She had at least tried to wrap their love in beauty, but that sort of
beauty was not enough for him. It was her scruples, he said, which had
been his undoing, and there was truth in that, but she had to remember
that when originally she had disappointed him, he had found comfort
quickly in Christabel; when Christabel failed him he had returned to
her; and now he had found consolation, if only of a temporary kind, in
some one else. When would he seek yet another victim of his affection
and his griefs? He was, she thought scornfully, a man who needed
women, yet she knew that if he had pleaded with her to-day, saying
that in spite of everything he needed her, she would have listened.
She admitted her responsibility, it would always be present to her,
for she had that kind of conscientiousness, and having once helped
him, she must always hold herself ready to do it again. The chain
binding them was not altogether broken, but she no longer felt its
weight. She had a lightness of spirit unknown for years; the anger,
the jealous rage and the disgust had vanished with a completeness
which made her doubt their short existence, and she began to make
plans for a new life. There was no reason now why she should not
wander all over the world, yet, on the very doorstep of Nelson Lodge,
she found a reason in the person of Henrietta--flushed and gay and
just returned from a tea party. She had enjoyed herself immensely, but
her head ached a little.
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