He did not try to think the thing
out. He felt that he was in the presence of a lie and that the Sue who had
lived in his mind and in his affections no longer existed, that in her
place there was this other woman, this woman who had insulted her own
servant and had perverted and distorted the meaning of his talk during the
evening.
Sitting by the fire filling and refilling his pipe, Sam went carefully
over every word, gesture, and incident of the evening at the Grovers and
could get hold of no part of it that he thought might in fairness serve as
an excuse for the outburst. In the upper part of the house he could hear
Sue moving restlessly about and he had satisfaction in the thought that
her mind was punishing her for so strange a seizure. He and Grover had
perhaps been somewhat carried away, he told himself; they had talked of
marriage and its meaning and had both declared somewhat hotly against the
idea that the loss of virginity in women was in any sense a bar to
honourable marriage, but he had said nothing that he thought could have
been twisted into an insult to Sue or to Mrs. Grover. He had thought the
talk rather good and clearly thought out and had come out of the house
exhilarated and secretly preening himself with the thought that he had
talked unusually forcefully and well.
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