"Can it be," he thought, as he strode off into the shrubbery, "that
I have been blind to the very effects that I hoped to cause? Can
it be that she has been made to feel her imperfection so keenly,
and in such a way as to create only utter discouragement? She
evidently understands the worm-eaten rose-bud I tossed away to be
the emblem of herself. Oh, the curse of Phariseeism--the 'holier
than thou' business, whatever form it takes. It has made an
egregious fool of me."
"But her relations with Sibley, confound it all! I can't understand
them. Why did she associate with him so constantly, and then say,
'Congenial society, or none at all'? Seems to me she ought to
have seen what he was before he showed his cloven feet so plainly.
Well, perhaps the most rational as well as charitable explanation
is that her eyes were opened to see him in his true colors, as
well as herself. Had Titania's eyes been disenchanted when she was
fondling the immortal Weaver, she might have perished with disgust;
and it is scarcely strange that Miss Mayhew should be ill on finding
that she was infatuated with a man who was both ass and villain.
She evidently sees things now as they are, and since her vision has
become so good, I am very sorry I do not appear to better advantage.
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