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There was, however, the ever-present danger of yielding too soon and making what was offered seem cheap. Sybelle knew she had been very near doing that. All her natural instincts were toward total openness and honesty. It was, thus. very exciting even to think of hiding what she felt. Sybelle had never had any need to conceal her love from anyone. To refrain from responding to Walter's embrace with an equally warm one, then, took on a kind of glamour of wrongdoingmischievous wrongdoing, not evilSybelle only wished to tease, not to wound. |
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There was a serious side to the necessary resistance. She must talk over with him the subject of his lands and those which were to be her dower. Sybelle felt an odd sinking of the heart. Obviously her father had told Walter how matters would be arranged, but it was one thing to hear it from a man he respected. It might be quite another matter entirely when a girl he thought of as his chattel began to make conditions. When they came in from the hunt, Sybelle thought, she must ask which lands Walter felt would march best with his own and offer to suggest those to her grandmother for her dowry. If he fired up at her interference . . . Again Sybelle felt that odd sinking of the heart. Perhaps she should not tempt fate? |
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Was it not too soon to begin Walter's next test? He had passed the first with flying colors. Then Sybelle admitted to herself, she dared not wait, dared no longer play with words and looks. That would only give her desire for him time to grow . . . and it was great enough already. Was it even now too great? Walter had said he would love her even if they quarreled, that he would not tire of his conflicts with her and seek a more complaisant woman. And it was true that her father and grandfather were faithful. Sybelle's heart lifted. |
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Suddenly there was a great belling from the hounds and the hunting horns blew wildly. The first boar had been scented. Sybelle caught up her whip and laid it sharply across Dama's haunches. The mare sprang forward, leaving the other women behind, and Sybelle cried out with the thrill of the chase. Yes, perhaps it was already too late for her, but only in the sense that she had taken the first steps into a new life. |
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