 the unquiet of long-continued agitation, the look that results from
intense excitement when it has become the habit of day after day.
    »Mallard has been talking to you,« he said suddenly.
    »Why do you say that?«
    »I know he has, from your letter. - Look at the views!«
    »What plans did you speak of?«
    »Oh, we'll talk about it afterwards. But Mallard has been talking you over?«
    Miriam had no resolve by which to guide herself. She knew not distinctly why
she had come to Capri. Her familiar self-reliance and cold disregard of anything
but a few plain rules in regulating her conduct, were things of the past. She
felt herself idly swayed by conflicting influences, unable even to debate what
course she should take; the one emotion of which she was clearly conscious was
of so strange and disturbing a kind that, so far from impelling her to act, it
seemed merely to destroy all her customary motives and leave her subject to the
will of others. It was the return of weakness such as had possessed her mind
when she lay ill, when she was ceaselessly troubled with a desire for she knew
not what, and, unable to utter it, had no choice but to admit the suggestions
and biddings of those who cared for her. She could not even resent this language
of Reuben's, to which formerly she would have opposed her unyielding pride; his
proximity infected her with nervousness, but at the same time made her flaccid
before his energy.
    »He came and spoke to me about you,« she admitted. »But he left me to do as
I saw fit.«
    »After putting the case against me as strongly as it could be put. I know;
you needn't tell me anything about the conversation. Let us leave it till
afterwards. - You see how this road winds, so that the incline may be gentle
enough for carriages. There are stony little paths, just like the beds of
mountain streams, going straight down to the Marina. I lost myself again and
again yesterday among the gardens and vineyards. Look back over the bay to
Naples!«
    But in a minute or two the other subject was resumed, again with a
suddenness that told of inability to keep from speaking his thoughts.
    »You understand, I dare say, why Mallard is making such a fuss?«
    »How could I help understanding?«
    »But do you understand?«
    »What do you mean?« she asked irritably.
    »Does he
