He had never appeared to such advantage in her eyes as he had done when he had left her the moment before, grave and silent.

She felt she had misjudged him.

He was not so frivolous, after all.

And now that her influence was at an end, who would keep him up to the mark about the various duties which she knew now he had begun to fulfil only to please her?
Oh, who would help and encourage him in that most difficult of positions, a land-owner without means sufficient for doing the best by land and tenantry?
She instinctively felt that he could not be relied upon for continuous exertion by himself.
"I wish I could have liked him," said Ruth to herself.

"I wish, I wish, I could!".