u would read me that way," I said.

"It is rather your way of reading."

"Can you remember that Desmond and I influence each other to act
alike? And that we comprehend each other without collision? I
love him, as a mature woman may love,--once, Ben, only once; the
fire-tipped arrows rarely pierce soul and sense, blood and brain."

He made a gesture, expressive of contempt.

"Men are different; he is different."

"You have already spoken for me, and, I suppose, you will for him."

"I venture to. Desmond is a violent, tyrannical, sensual man; his
perceptions are his pulses. That he is handsome, clever, resolute, and
sings well, I can admit; but no more."

"We will not bandy his merits or his demerits between us. Let us
observe him. And now, tell me,--what am I?"

"You have been my delight and misery ever since I knew you. I saw you
first, so impetuous, yet self-contained! Incapable of insincerity,
devoid of affection and courageously naturally beautiful. Then, to
my amazement, I saw that, unlike most women, you understood your
instincts; that you dared to define them, and were impious enough to
follow them. You debased my ideal, you confused me, also, for I could
never affirm that you were wrong; forcing me to consult abstractions,
they gave a verdict in your favor, which almost unsexed you in my
estimation. I must own that the man who is willing to marry you
has more courage than I have. Is it strange that when I found your
counterpart, Veronica, that I yielded? Her delicate, pure, ignorant
soul suggests to me eternal repose."

"It is not necessary that you should fatigue your mind with
abstractions concerning her. It will be the literal you will hunger
for, dear Ben."

"Damn it! the world has got a twist in it, and we all go round with
it, devilishly awry."

I said no more. He had defined my limits, he would, as far as
possible, control me without pity or compassion, thinking, probably,
that I needed none; the powers he had always given me credit for must
be sufficing. I could not comprehend him. How was it that he and Verry
gave me such horrible pain? Was it exceptional? Could I claim nothing
from women? Had they thought me an anomaly?--while I thought it was
Veronica who was called peculiar and original? The end of it all must
be for me to assimilate with their happiness!

"Well?" he said.

"Thank you."

Then Veronica came, swinging her bonnet. "The _Sagamore_ has arrived,
and I am going to stand on