If some women are good, it is because they try hard to
be what the best men think them. No, no, I have no doubts of Irene.
And that is why it really grieves me to see you still hoping. She
would never have gone so far----"
"But there's the very question!" cried Piers excitedly. "Who knows
how far she has gone? It may be the merest conjecture on your part,
and her father's. People are so ready to misunderstand a girl who
respects herself enough to be free and frank in her association with
men. Let me shame myself by making a confession. Five years ago,
when I all but went mad about her, I was contemptible enough to
think she had treated me cruelly." He gave a scornful laugh. "You
know what I mean. At Ewell, when I lived only for my books, and she
drew me away from them. Conceited idiot! And she so bravely honest,
so simple and direct, so human! Was it _her_ fault if I lost my
head?"
"She certainly changed the whole course of your life," said Mrs.
Hannaford thoughtfully.
"True, she did. And to my vast advantage! What should I have become?
A clerkship at Whitehall--heaven defend us! At best a learned
pedant, in my case. She sent me out into the world, where there is
always hope. She gave me health and sanity. Above all, she set
before me an ideal which has never allowed me to fall hopelessly--
never will let me become a contented brute! If she never addresses
another word to me, I shall owe her an infinite debt as long as I
live.
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