There is no power so subtle and so strong as that of association.
We have learnt to associate mustard with beef, and therefore mustard
shall be eaten with beef until the day when the lion shall lie down
with the lamb.
Miss Millicent Chyne became aware, as the year advanced towards the
sere and yellow leaf, that in opposing her wayward will in single
combat against a simple little association in the public mind she
was undertaking a somewhat herculean task.
Society--itself an association--is the slave of a word, and society
had acquired the habit of coupling the names of Sir John Meredith
and Lady Cantourne. They belonged to the same generation; they had
similar tastes; they were both of some considerable power in the
world of leisured pleasure; and, lastly, they amused each other.
The result is not far to seek. Wherever the one was invited, the
other was considered to be in demand; and Millicent found herself
face to face with a huge difficulty.
Sir John was distinctly in the way. He had a keener eye than the
majority of young men, and occasionally exercised the old man's
privilege of saying outright things which, despite theory, are
better left unsaid. Moreover, the situation was ill-defined, and an
ill-defined situation does not improve in the keeping. Sir John
said sharp things--too sharp even for Millicent--and, in addition to
the original grudge begotten of his quarrel with Jack and its
result, the girl nourished an ever-present feeling of resentment at
a persistency in misunderstanding her of which she shrewdly
suspected the existence.
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