In the beginning, Constance said she was not sure she liked him. Let
me remember his first words about her, the day after her arrival. I
brought him into the drawing-room, and put his hand into hers,
saying, "Here is your friend."
He was very shy, and hardly looked at her. "We are meeting under
inauspicious circumstances, Mrs. Norris," said he. "We have heard so
much about each other that I, at least, cannot reconcile the
strangeness of your person with the intimate affection I have so
long had for you in my thoughts."
Constance laughed.
"It _is_ funny, isn't it?" said she. "I know what you mean. I
thought I knew you quite well, and you're not at all the sort of
person I thought you were."
Gabriel did not stay long; I went with him to the door when he left,
and he said:
"She is prettier than her photograph. I like her, Emilia." I was so
glad.
Constance soon began to take an interest in him; he amused her.
"He is the queerest creature I ever saw," she said; "I can't set
eyes on him without laughing; he is too comic."
Then she fell ill, poor love! They did not meet for a long time. And
every day, when Gabriel came to fetch me for my walk, he only asked
after her as he should have asked after my dearest friend.
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