'
'I'm not sure that you don't demand too much of her. Unhappily, I
know little or nothing of delicately-bred women, but I have a
suspicion that one oughtn't to expect heroism in them, any more
than in the women of the lower classes. I think of women as
creatures to be protected. Is a man justified in asking them to
be stronger than himself?'
'Of course,' replied Reardon, 'there's no use in demanding more
than a character is capable of. But I believed her of finer
stuff. My bitterness comes of the disappointment.'
'I suppose there were faults of temper on both sides, and you saw
at last only each other's weaknesses.'
'I saw the truth, which had always been disguised from me.'
Biffen persisted in looking doubtful, and in secret Reardon
thanked him for it.
As the realist progressed with his novel, 'Mr Bailey, Grocer,' he
read the chapters to Reardon, not only for his own satisfaction,
but in great part because he hoped that this example of
productivity might in the end encourage the listener to resume
his own literary tasks. Reardon found much to criticise in his
friend's work; it was noteworthy that he objected and condemned
with much less hesitation than in his better days, for sensitive
reticence is one of the virtues wont to be assailed by suffering,
at all events in the weaker natures.
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