half-brightening

Updated: May 21, 2025

It was something else, vague and indefinite, something that had been unnoticed while Mary was with them, but had now come between them like some unknown presence which had taken the confidante's place. He remained silent, looking at her half-brightening cheek and conscious profile. Then he spoke with awkward directness. "You are changed, Susy, more than in looks."

Bret Harte - Susy, a story of the Plains