There had been certain thrilling passages between herself and two men,--an interval of a year between each,--and there had also been a kiss in an alcove designed by her dearest friend, Ella Linton, for the undoing of mankind, a place of softened lights and shadowy palms.

It was her recollection of these incidents that had caused her to fumble with the blind cord when her father had been suggesting to her the disadvantages of inexperience in matters of the heart.

But the incidents had led to nothing, except, perhaps, a week or two of remorse.
But she could not help feeling, when that month of curious doubt was upon her, that the little thrill which she had felt when one man had put his arm around her for an instant, when another man--he was very young--had put his lips upon her mouth--it was a straightforward kiss--suggested a nearer approach to love than she had yet been conscious of in the presence of George Holland.

(He had never done more than kiss her hand.

Is it on record that any man did more when dressed with the severity of the cleric ?) This was a terrible impression for a young woman to retain before her engagement to a man has passed into its third month.