It was a brutal assault, though wholly
unintentional."
Poor Rose, who remembered that it was she who made the assault,
expressed the belief that she would rather it were forgotten than
forgiven.
"I'm afraid I can't forget it. Some things make too deep an impression.
Of course," he added, in his embarrassment, "it was the last thing I
should have wished to do."
"Of course!" echoed the miserable girl, wondering if he meant what he
said.
"Allan," said his mother, entering the room at that moment, "what are
you saying to distress my patient? I don't like the look of these
feverish cheeks."
"I fear I have committed the unpardonable sin, as Miss Rose refuses to
pardon it."
Mrs. Dunlop, who was in absolute ignorance of the subject of
conversation, looked smilingly from one to the other.
"Promise her that the offence will never be repeated, Allan," she
said, "and then it may receive forgiveness."
The young man coloured scarlet. "The conditions are too hard," he
murmured. "I think, on the whole, I should prefer to go unforgiven."
And he hastily rose and left the room.
But if Rose Macleod was not free from afflictions of a sentimental
nature, her brother Edward was even less so.
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