thought the pear was only
waiting to drop into his hand; magnanimity appeared at once safe and
desirable, and there was no strong motive to counteract Eugene's love
for Stafford. Matters were rather different when it appeared that the
pear was not waiting to drop--when, on the contrary, the pear had
pointedly removed itself from the hand of the plucker, and seemed, if
one may vary the metaphor, to have turned into a prickly pear. Eugene
still believed that Claudia loved him; but he saw that she was stung by
his apparent neglect, and perhaps still more by the idea that in his
view he had only to ask at any time in order to have. When ladies gather
that impression, they think it due to their self-respect to make
themselves very unpleasant, and Eugene did not feel sure how far this
feeling might not carry Claudia's quick, fiery nature, more especially
if she were offered a chance of punishing Eugene by accepting a suitor
who was in many ways an object of her admiration and regard, and came to
her with an indubitable halo of romance about him. Eugene felt that his
consideration for Stafford might, perhaps, turn out to be more than a
graceful tribute to friendship; it might mean a real sacrifice, a
sacrifice of immense gravity; and he did what most people would do--he
reconsidered the situation.

The matter was not, to his thinking, complicated by anything approaching
to an implied pledge on his part. Of course Stafford had not looked upon
him as a possible rival; his engagement to Kate Bernard had seemed to
put him _hors de combat_. But he had been equally entitled to regard
Stafford as out of the running; for surely Stafford's vow was as binding
as his promise. They stood on an equality: neither could reproach the
other--that is to say, each had matter of reproach against the other,
but his mouth was closed. There was then only friendship--only the old
bond that nothing was to come between them. Did this bond carry with it
the obligation of standing on one side in such a case as this? Moreover,
time was precious. If he failed to seek out Claudia that very day, she,
knowing he was at Territon Park, would be justly aggrieved by a new
proof of indifference or disrespect. And yet, if he were to wait for
Stafford, that day must go by without his visit. Eugene had hitherto
lived pleasantly by means of never asking too much of himself, and in
consequence being always tolerably equal to his own demands upon
himself. Quixotism was