fellow I ever saw. What's Mr Apollo Crosbie to him? And now, as it
makes you unhappy, I'll never say another word about him."

As Bell wished her sister good-night with perhaps more than her usual
affection, it was evident that Lily's words and eager tone had in
some way pleased her, in spite of their opposition to the request
which she had made. And Lily was aware that it was so.




CHAPTER IV

Mrs Roper's Boarding-House


I have said that John Eames had been petted by none but his mother,
but I would not have it supposed, on this account, that John Eames
had no friends. There is a class of young men who never get petted,
though they may not be the less esteemed, or perhaps loved. They do
not come forth to the world as Apollos, nor shine at all, keeping
what light they may have for inward purposes. Such young men are
often awkward, ungainly, and not yet formed in their gait; they
straggle with their limbs, and are shy; words do not come to them
with ease, when words are required, among any but their accustomed
associates. Social meetings are periods of penance to them, and any
appearance in public will unnerve them. They go much about alone,
and blush when women speak to them. In truth, they are not as yet
men, whatever the number may be of their years; and, as they are no
longer boys, the world has found for them the ungraceful name of