plain. Zulora, whether she
was in love with me or not, was bent on marrying me, and I gathered in
talking with a young gentleman of my acquaintance who frequently visited
the house and whom I greatly disliked, that it was considered a sacred
and inviolable rule that whoever married into a family must marry the
eldest daughter at that time unmarried. The young gentleman urged this
upon me so frequently that I at last saw he was in love with Arowhena
himself, and wanted me to get Zulora out of the way; but others told me
the same story as to the custom of the country, and I saw there was a
serious difficulty. My only comfort was that Arowhena snubbed my rival
and would not look at him. Neither would she look at me; nevertheless
there was a difference in the manner of her disregard; this was all I
could get from her.

Not that she avoided me; on the contrary I had many a tete-a-tete with
her, for her mother and sister were anxious for me to deposit some part
of my pension in the Musical Banks, this being in accordance with the
dictates of their goddess Ydgrun, of whom both Mrs. Nosnibor and Zulora
were great devotees. I was not sure whether I had kept my secret from
being perceived by Arowhena herself, but none of the others suspected me,
so she was set upon me to get me to open an account, at any rate _pro
forma_, with the Musical Banks; and I need hardly say that she succeeded.
But I did not yield at once; I enjoyed the process of being argued with
too keenly to lose it by a prompt concession; besides, a little
hesitation rendered the concession itself more valuable. It was in the
course of conversations on this subject that I learned the more defined
religious opinions of the Erewhonians, that coexist with the Musical Bank
system, but are not recognised by those curious institutions. I will
describe them as briefly as possible in the following chapters before I
return to the personal adventures of Arowhena and myself.

They were idolaters, though of a comparatively enlightened kind; but
here, as in other things, there was a discrepancy between their professed
and actual belief, for they had a genuine and potent faith which existed
without recognition alongside of their idol worship.

The gods whom they worship openly are personifications of human
qualities, as justice, strength, hope, fear, love, &c., &c. The people
think that prototypes of these have a real objective existence in a
region far beyond the clou