A week later, he again found his cousin alone. He now felt sure that Miss Nunn was keeping out of his way. Her parting from him in the Gardens had been decidedly abrupt, and possibly it signified more serious offence than at the time he attributed to her. It was so difficult to be sure of anything in regard to Miss Nunn. If another woman had acted thus, he would have judged it coquetry. But perhaps Rhoda was quite incapable of anything of that kind. Perhaps she took herself so very seriously that the mere suspicion of banter in his talk had moved her to grave resentment. Or again, she might be half ashamed to meet him after confessing her disagreement with Miss Barfoot; on recovery from ill temper, (unmistakable ill temper it was,) she had seen her behaviour in an embarrassing light. Between these various conjectures he wavered, whilst talking with Mary.
