Even if compelled by
circumstances to accept Arnault, she proposed to herself the triumph
of rejecting Graydon, and thought she could do this so skilfully as to
give the idea that he had made a deep impression on her heart, and
so eventually win him again as one of her devoted followers in the
future. This product of fashionable society had not the slightest
intention of giving up her career as a belle for the sake of Mr.
Arnault or any one else. She had more liking and less fear for Graydon
than for Arnault. The latter was an open, resolute suitor, but she
knew that he was controlled more by ambition than by affection--that
he would yield everything and submit to anything up to a certain
point. The moment she jeopardized his prestige before the world,
or interfered with his scheme of success, she would meet rock-like
obduracy, both before and after marriage. She knew that Graydon had
a sincere affection for her, and a faith in her which, even in her
egotism, she was aware was unmerited--that he had a larger, gentler,
and more tolerant nature, and would be easier to manage than Arnault.
Her fear of the latter proved his best ally. There was a resolution in
his eye since his return this evening that, even while it angered her
somewhat, convinced her that he would not be trifled with.
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