intimate friends; nothing more than this, for indeed no
one was in a position to tell her more. Wakeful jealousy caused her to fix upon
the fact as one of significance; Godwin's evasive manner when she questioned him
confirmed her suspicions; and as soon as she was brought face to face with
Sidwell, suspicion became certainty. She knew at once that Miss Warricombe was
the very person who would be supremely attractive to Godwin Peak.
    An interval of weeks, and again she saw the face that in the meantime had
been as present to her imagination as Godwin's own features. This time she
conversed at some length with Miss Warricombe. Was it merely a fancy that the
beautiful woman looked at her, spoke to her, with some exceptional interest? By
now she had learnt that the Moorhouses and the Warricombes were connected in
close friendship; it was all but certain, then, that Miss Moorhouse had told
Miss Warricombe of Peak's visit to Budleigh Salterton, and its incidents. Could
this in any way be explanatory of the steady, searching look in those soft eyes?
    Marcella had always regarded the emotion of jealousy as characteristic of a
vulgar nature. Now that it possessed her, she endeavoured to call it by other
names; to persuade herself that she was indignant on abstract grounds, or
anxious only with reference to Peak's true interests. She could not affect
surprise. So intensely sympathetic was her reading of Godwin's character that
she understood - or at all events recognised - the power Sidwell would possess
over him. He did not care for enlightenment in a woman; he was sensual - though
in a subtle way; the aristocratic vein in his temper made him subject to strong
impressions from trivialities of personal demeanour, of social tone.
    Yet all was mere conjecture. She had not dared to utter Peak's name, lest in
doing so she should betray herself. Constantly planning to make further
discoveries, she as constantly tried to dismiss all thought of the matter - to
learn indifference. Already she had debased herself, and her nature must be
contemptible indeed if anything could lure her forward on such a path.
    None the less, she was assiduous in maintaining friendly relations with the
Walworths. Christian, too, had got into the habit of calling there; it was
significant of the noticeable change which was come upon him - a change his
sister was at no loss to understand from the moment that he informed her
(gravely, but without expressiveness) of Mr. Palmer's death. Instead of shunning
ordinary society, he seemed bent on extending the circle of