med atmosphere of his
Olympian girl his face grew sad with a new sort of sadness. A perception
of the dilemma in which his love had placed him came back in full force.
In spite of Eustacia's apparent willingness to wait through the period
of an unpromising engagement, till he should be established in his new
pursuit, he could not but perceive at moments that she loved him rather
as a visitant from a gay world to which she rightly belonged than as
a man with a purpose opposed to that recent past of his which so
interested her. It meant that, though she made no conditions as to his
return to the French capital, this was what she secretly longed for in
the event of marriage; and it robbed him of many an otherwise pleasant
hour. Along with that came the widening breach between himself and his
mother. Whenever any little occurrence had brought into more prominence
than usual the disappointment that he was causing her it had sent him on
lone and moody walks; or he was kept awake a great part of the night
by the turmoil of spirit which such a recognition created. If Mrs.
Yeobright could only have been led to see what a sound and worthy
purpose this purpose of his was and how little it was being affected by
his devotions to Eustacia, how differently would she regard him!

Thus as his sight grew accustomed to the first blinding halo kindled
about him by love and beauty, Yeobright began to perceive what a
strait he was in. Sometimes he wished that he had never known Eustacia,
immediately to retract the wish as brutal. Three antagonistic growths
had to be kept alive: his mother's trust in him, his plan for becoming a
teacher, and Eustacia's happiness. His fervid nature could not afford
to relinquish one of these, though two of the three were as many as
he could hope to preserve. Though his love was as chaste as that of
Petrarch for his Laura, it had made fetters of what previously was
only a difficulty. A position which was not too simple when he stood
whole-hearted had become indescribably complicated by the addition of
Eustacia. Just when his mother was beginning to tolerate one scheme
he had introduced another still bitterer than the first, and the
combination was more than she could bear.

5--Sharp Words Are Spoken, and a Crisis Ensues

When Yeobright was not with Eustacia he was sitting slavishly over his
books; when he was not reading he was meeting her. These meetings were
carried on with the greatest secrecy.