"I was proud of you as
a beautiful child, and tried to win your love by indulgence. Heaven
knows, I would like to be a different man, but it's all a breathless
hurry after bubbles that vanish when grasped! Well, what do you
propose to do? You see that you can't hesitate much longer."
"I will decide soon," she answered, sullenly. Although her conscience
echoed his words, and she felt their justice, her pride prevailed, and
she permitted him to depart without another word.
CHAPTER XXIV
"I'LL SEE HOW YOU BEHAVE"
The dawn of the following sacred day was bright, beautiful, and
serene, bringing to the world a new wealth of opportunity. Miss
Wildmere began its hours depressed and undecided. Her conscience and
better angel were pleading; she felt vaguely that her life and its
motives were wrong, and was uncomfortable over the consciousness. Her
phase of character, however, was one of the most hopeless. It was true
that her vanity had grown to the proportions of a disease, but even
this might be overcome. Her father's stern words had wounded it
terribly, and she had experienced twinges of self-disgust. But another
trait had become inwrought, by long habit, with every fibre of her
soul--selfishness.
Pages:
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304