Part 2 What Occurred in Glencaid Chapter 9 The Verge of a Quarrel

Brant's mind was a chaos of conflicting emotions, but a single abiding
conviction never once left him--he retained implicit faith in her, and
he purposed to fight this matter out with Hampton. Even in that
crucial hour, had any one ventured to suggest that he was in love with
Naida, he would merely have laughed, serenely confident that nothing
more than gentlemanly interest swayed his conduct. It was true, he
greatly admired the girl, recalled to memory her every movement, her
slightest glance, her most insignificant word, while her marvellous
eyes constantly haunted him, yet the dawn of love was not even faintly
acknowledged.

Nevertheless, he manifested an unreasonable dislike for Hampton. He
had never before felt thus toward this person; indeed, he had possessed
a strong man's natural admiration for the other's physical power and
cool, determined courage. He now sincerely feared Hampton's power over
the innocent mind of the girl, imagining his influence to be much
stronger than it really was, and he sought after some suitable means
for overcoming it. He had no faith in this man's professed reform, no
abiding confidence in his word of honor; and it seemed to him then that
the entire future of the young woman's life rested upon his deliverance
of her from the toils of the gambler. He alone, among those who might
be considered as her true friends, knew the secret of her infatuation,
and upon him alone, therefore, rested the burden of her release. It
was his heart that drove him into such a decision, although he
conceived it then to be the reasoning of the brain.