"
"And, dear Thurston," she said, raising her head, "it will not be so
hard to bear, as you now think. We shall see each other every Sunday in
the church, and every Monday in the lecture-room. We shall often be of
the same invited company at neighbors' houses. Remember, also, that
Christmas is coming, with its protracted festivities, when we shall see
each other almost every evening, at some little neighborhood gathering.
And now I must really hurry; oh! how late I am this morning! Good-by,
dearest Thurston!"
"Good-by, my own Marian."
Blushingly she received, his parting kiss, and hurried along the little
foot-path leading to the village.
Thurston had been perfectly sincere in his resolution not to seek a
private interview with Marian; and he kept it faithfully all the week,
with less temptation to break it, because he did not know where to watch
for her.
But Sunday came again--and Thurston, with a little bit of human
self-deception and _finesse_, avoided the forest path, where he had met
her the preceding Sabbath, and saying to himself that he would not
waylay her, took the river road, refusing to confess even to himself
that he acted upon the calculation that she also would take the same
road, in order to avoid meeting him in the forest.
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