Ronald would hate him
cordially.
But John refused to be hated. His manner was easy and courteous, but not
gentle. He was evidently no lady's man. He talked to the men more than to
the women, and he was utterly without affectation. Indeed, he was not in
the least like what Ronald had expected.
Moreover, Ronald was seated next to Sybil Brandon at dinner, and drove
every one away who tried to disturb the _tete-a-tete_ he succeeded
in procuring with her afterwards. He was surprised at his own conduct, but
he somehow connected it in his mind with his desire to hate Harrington. It
was not very clear to himself, and it certainly would have been
incomprehensible to any one else, but the presence of Harrington
stimulated him in his efforts to amuse Miss Brandon.
Sybil, too, in her quiet way, was very willing to be amused, and she found
in Ronald Surbiton an absolute freshness of ideas that gave her a new
sense of pleasure. Her affair with Vancouver had made a deep impression on
her mind, and her mother's death soon afterwards had had the effect of
withdrawing her entirely from the world.
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