“Ihavesuspected。”hesaid，——“Ihavehadakindoffeeling——thatshe——Well，come，Doctor，——Idon’tknowthatthere’sanyuseindisguisingthematter，——IhavethoughtElsieVeneerhadratherafancyforsomebodyelse，——Imeanmyself。”
Therewassomethingsobecomingintheblushwithwhichtheyoungmanmadethisconfession，andsomanly，too，inthetonewithwhichhespoke，soremotefromanyshallowvanity，suchasyoungmenwhoareincapableofloveareapttofeel，whensomeloosetendrilofawoman’sfancywhichachancewindhasblownagainstthemtwinesaboutthemforthewantofanythingbetter，thattheoldDoctorlookedathimadmiringly，andcouldnothelpthinkingthatitwasnowonderanyyounggirlshouldbepleasedwithhim。
“Youareamanofnerve，Mr。Langdon？“saidtheDoctor。
“Ithoughtsotillverylately。”hereplied。“Iamnoteasilyfrightened，butIdon’tknowbutImightbebewitchedormagnetized，orwhateveritiswhenoneistiedupandcannotmove。IthinkIcanfindnerveenough，however，ifthereisanyspecialuseyouwanttoputitto。”
“Letmeaskyouonemorequestion，Mr。Langdon。DoyoufindyourselfdisposedtotakeaspecialinterestinElsie，——tofallinlovewithher，inaword？Pardonme，forIdonotaskfromcuriosity，butamuchmoreseriousmotive。”