He had made more than one attempt to regain his
position with her after the direct cut he had sustained on the evening
when she parted with John; but Joe had resolutely set her face against
him. Possibly she thought Vancouver might hope to regain her good opinion
by a regular system of kindness to Ronald; but it hardly seemed to her as
though such a result would reward him for the pains of his diplomacy.
Meanwhile it would be foolish of her to interfere with any intimacy which
was of real use to Ronald in his suit.
As a matter of fact, Vancouver was carrying out a deliberate plan, and one
which was far from ill-conceived. He had not been so blind as not to
suspect Joe's secret attachment for John, when she was willing to go to
such lengths in her indignation against himself for being John's enemy.
But he had disposed of John, as he thought, by assisting, if not actually
causing, his defeat. He imagined that Harrington had gone abroad to
conceal the mortification he felt at having lost the election, and he
rightly argued that for some time Joe would not bestow a glance upon any
one else.
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