He was
dripping. Mrs. Dodd expressed her regrets; he told her it did not matter;
for him the ball was now over, the flowers faded, and the lights darkness
visible.
"The extravagance of these children!" said Mrs. Dodd to Julia, with a
smile, as soon as he was out of hearing. Julia made no reply.
Next day she was at evening church: the congregation was very sparse. The
first glance revealed Alfred Hardie standing in the very next pew. He
wore a calm front of conscious rectitude; under which peeped sheep-faced
misgivings as to the result of this advance; for, like all true lovers,
he was half impudence, half timidity; and both on the grand scale.
Now Julia in a ball-room was one creature, another in church. After the
first surprise, which sent the blood for a moment to her cheek, she found
he had come without a prayer-book. She looked sadly and half
reproachfully at him; then put her white hand calmly over the wooden
partition, and made him read with her out of her book. She shared her
hymn-book with him, too, and sang her Maker's praise modestly and
soberly, but earnestly, and quite undisturbed by her lover's presence.
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