"I like you to say so--I shall take it as an omen;" and he then turned
away, and talked for the rest of the evening to Mrs Leyton. Phillis
leaned back in a kind of dream, thinking that friendship was pleasant
and soothing, and wishing that others would be content with it. But
they would not. And if--if only she could make up her mind to marry
him, not only could she save him--this was what she thought--from the
pangs of disappointment, but her own unrest might perhaps be hushed
into--contentment.
And yet she would not marry Jack without an equal love. Certainly
Phillis could lay no claim to be what is called a consistent character.