"I think you are
quite wrong, Stumpy dear," she said. "If your soul matched your body,
then there might be something in your argument. But it doesn't. And--if
you don't mind my saying so--your soul is far the most extraordinary
part of your personality. Little Dinah found out long ago that you
were--greathearted."
Scott smiled a little. "Oh yes, I know she views me through a
magnifying-glass and reveres me accordingly. Hence our friendship. But,
my dear, that isn't being in love. I believe that somewhere there is a
shadowy person whom she cherishes in the very inner secrecy of her heart.
Who he is or what he is, I don't know. He is probably something very
different from the dream-being she worships. We all are. But I feel that
he is there. Probably I have never met the actual man. I have only seen
his shadow and that by inadvertence. I once penetrated the secret chamber
for one moment only, and then I was driven forth and the door securely
locked. I am not good at trespassing, you know, for all my greatness. I
have never been near the secret chamber since."
"Do you mean that she admitted to you that--she cared for someone?"
Isabel asked.
Scott's pale eyes had a quizzical look. "I had the consideration to back
out before she had time to do anything so unmaidenly," he said. "Possibly
the shadowman may never materialize. In fact it seems more than possible.
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