No letters for me, I suppose ?" "No, sir." "Sure ?" "I will look again." And I looked with him, over his shoulder; but there was nothing; and the note for Bob Evers now inspired me with a tripartite blend of curiosity, envy, and apprehension.

I would have had a last word from the same hand myself; had it been never so scornful, this silent scorn was the harder sort to bear.

Also I wanted much to know what her last word was to Bob--and dreaded more what it might be.
There remained the unexpected triumph of having got rid of my lady after all.

That is not to be belittled even now.

It is a triumph to succeed in any undertaking, more especially when one has abandoned one's own last hope of such success.