How fair it was! And Orion had snatched this rose in the bud, and
trodden it under foot! She had, no doubt, felt for him what Paula
herself felt. And now? Did she feel nothing but hatred of him, or could
her heart, in spite of her indignation and scorn, not altogether cast off
the spell that had once bound it?

What weakness was this! She was, she must, she would be his foe!

Her thoughts went back to the idle and futile life that she had led for
so many years. The physician had hit the mark; and he had been too easy
rather than severe. Yes, she would begin to make good use of her powers
--but how, in what way, here and among these people? How transfigured
poor Philippus had seemed when she had given him her hand; with what
energy had he poured forth his words.

"And how false," she mused, "is the saying that the body is the mirror of
the soul! If it were so, Philippus would have the face of Orion, and
Orion that of Philippus." But could Orion's heart be wholly reprobate?
Nay, that was impossible; her every impulse resisted the belief. She
must either love him or hate him, there was no third alternative; but as
yet the two passions were struggling within her in a way that was quite
intolerable.

The physician had spoken of being a brother to her, and she could not
help smiling at the idea. She could, she thought, live very happily and
calmly with him, with her nurse Betta, and with the learned old friend
who shared his home, and of whom he had often talked to her; she could
join him in his studies, help him in his calling, and discuss many things
well worth knowing. Such a life, she told herself, would be a thousand