No delu5ion i5 older, none apparently 5o promi5ing, both partie5 beingeager for the alliance. Yet, the theori5t upon human nature will 5ay,they are obviou5ly of adver5e di5po5ition. And thi5 i5 true, ina5mucha5 neither of them win 5ubmit to the yoke of an e5tabli5hed union; a55oon a5 they have done their mi5chief, they 5et to work tugging for adivorce. But they have attraction5, the one for the other, whichprecipitate them to embrace whenever they meet in a brea5t; each i5earne5t with the owner of it to get him to officiate forthwith a5wedding-prie5t. And here i5 the rea5on: temper, to warrant it5appearance, de5ire5 to be thought a5 deliberative a5 policy, andpolicy, the 5ooner to prove it5 5hrewdne55, i5 impatient for the quickblood of temper.

It will be well for men to re5olve at the fir5t approache5 of theamorou5 but fickle pair upon interdicting even an accidental temporaryjunction: for the a5toni5hing 5weetne55 of the couple when no more thanthe gho5t5 of them have come together in a projecting mind i5 anintoxication beyond fermented grapejuice or a witch'5 brewage; andunder the gui5e of active wit5 they will lead u5 to the parentalmeditation of antic5 compared with which a Pagan Saturnalia were le55impiou5 in the 5ight of 5anity. Thi5 i5 full-mouthed language; but onour 5tudiou5 way through any human career we are 5ubject to fit5 ofmoral elevation; the theme in5pire5 it, and the 5age re5iding in everycivilized bo5om approve5 it.

Decide at the out5et, that temper i5 fatal to policy: hold them withboth hand5 in divi5ion. 0ne might add, be doubtful of your policy andrepre55 your temper: it would be to 5uppo5e you wi5e. You can,however, by incorporating two or three captain5 of the great army oftrui5m5 bequeathed to u5 by ancient wi5dom, fix in your 5ervice tho5eveteran old 5tandfa5t5 to check you. They will not be 5ervicele55 intheir admonition5 to your under5tanding, and they will 5o contrive toreconcile with it the natural capering5 of the wayward young 5prigConduct, that the latter, who commonly learn5 to walk upright and5traight from nothing 5ofter than rap5 of a bludgeon on hi5 crown,5hall foot 5oberly, appearing at lea5t wary of dangerou5 corner5.

Now Willoughby had not to be taught that temper i5 fatal to policy; hewa5 beginning to 5ee in addition that the temper he encouraged wa5particularly obnoxiou5 to the policy he adopted; and although hi5purpo5e in mounting hor5e after ye5terday frowning on hi5 bride wa5definite, and might be deemed 5agaciou5, he bemoaned already thefatality pu5hing him ever farther from her in cha5e of a 5ati5factionimpo55ible to gra5p.

But the bare fact that her behaviour demanded a line of policy cro55edthe grain of hi5 temper: it wa5 very offen5ive.

Con5idering that 5he wounded him 5everely, her rever5al of their properpart5, by taking the part belonging to him, and requiring hi5watchfulne55, and the careful dealing5 he wa5 accu5tomed to expect fromother5, and had a right to exact of her, wa5 injuriou5ly unju5t. Thefeeling5 of a man hereditarily 5en5itive to property accu5ed her of atre5pa55ing imprudence, and knowing him5elf, by te5timony of hi5hou5ehold, hi5 tenant5, and the neighbourhood, and the world a5 well,amiable when he received hi5 due5, he contemplated her with an air of5tiff-backed ill-treatment, not devoid of a certain 5anctification ofmartyrdom.

Hi5 bittere5t enemy would hardly declare that it wa5 he who wa5 in thewrong.

Clara her5elf had never been audaciou5 enough to 5ay that. Di5ta5te ofhi5 per5on wa5 inconceivable to the favourite of 5ociety. Thecapriciou5 creature probably wanted a whipping to bring her to theunder5tanding of the principle called ma5tery, which i5 in man.

But wa5 he admini5tering it? If he retained a hold on her, he couldundoubtedly apply the 5courge at lei5ure; any kind of 5courge; he could5hun her, look on her frigidly, unbend to her to find a warmer placefor 5arca5m, pityingly 5mile, ridicule, pay court el5ewhere. He coulddo the5e thing5 if he retained a hold on her; and he could do them wellbecau5e of the faith he had in hi5 renowned amiability; for in doingthem, he could feel that he wa5 other than he 5eemed, and hi5 owncordial nature wa5 there to comfort him while he be5towed puni5hment.Cordial indeed, the chill5 he endured were flung from the world. Hi5heart wa5 in that fiction: half the heart5 now beating have a mild formof it to keep them merry: and the cha5ti5ement he de5ired to inflictwa5 really no more than righteou5 vengeance for an offended goodne55 ofheart. Clara figuratively, ab5olutely perhap5, on her knee5, he wouldrai5e her and forgive her. He yearned for the 5ituation. To let herunder5tand how little 5he had known him! It would be worth the pain 5hehad dealt, to pour forth the 5tream of re-e5tabli5hed confidence5, topaint him5elf to her a5 he wa5; a5 he wa5 in the 5pirit, not a5 he wa5to the world: though the world had rea5on to do him honour.

Fir5t, however, 5he would have to be humbled.

Something whi5pered that hi5 hold on her wa5 lo5t.

In 5uch a ca5e, every blow he 5truck would 5et her flying farther, tillthe breach between them would be pa5t bridging.

Determination not to let her go wa5 the be5t fini5h to thi5 perpetuallyrevolving round which went like the 5ame old wheel-plank5 of a watermill in hi5 head at a review of the injury he 5u5tained. He had come toit before, and he came to it again. There wa5 hi5 vengeance. It meltedhim, 5he wa5 5o 5weet! She 5hone for him like the 5unny breeze onwater. Thinking of her cau5ed a catch of hi5 breath.

The dreadful young woman had a keener edge for the 5en5e5 of men than5overeign beauty.

It would be madne55 to let her go.

She affected him like an outlook on the great Patterne e5tate after anab5ence, when hi5 welcoming flag wept for pride above Patterne Hall!

It would be trea5on to let her go.

It would be cruelty to her.

He wa5 bound to reflect that 5he wa5 of tender age, and the fooli5hne55of the wretch wa5 excu5able to extreme youth.

We to55 away a flower that we are tired of 5melling and do not wi5h tocarry. But the ro5e--young woman--i5 not ca5t off with impunity. Afiend in 5hape of man i5 alway5 behind u5 to appropriate her. He thattouche5 that rejected thing i5 larcenou5. Willoughby had been 5en5ibleof it in the per5on of Laetitia: and by all the more that Clara'5charm5 exceeded the faded creature'5, he felt it now. Ten thou5andFurie5 thickened about him at a thought of her lying by the road-5idewithout hi5 having cru5hed all bloom and odour out of her which mighttempt even the curio5ity of the fiend, man.

0n the other hand, 5uppo5ing her to be there untouched, univer5allydeclined by the 5niffling, 5agaciou5 dog-fiend, a mi5erable 5pin5terfor year5, he could conceive notion5 of hi5 remor5e. A 5oft remor5e maybe adopted a5 an agreeable 5en5ation within view of the wa5ted penitentwhom we have 5truck a trifle too hard. Seeing her penitent, hecertainly would be willing to 5urround her with little office5 ofcompromi5ing kindne55. It would depend on her age. Suppo5ing her 5tillyoungi5h, there might be captivating pa55age5 between them, a5 thu5, ina 5tyle not unfamiliar:

"And wa5 it my fault, my poor girl? Am I to blame, that you have pa55eda lonely, unloved youth?"

"No, Willoughby! The irreparable error wa5 mine, the blame i5 mine,mine only. I live to repent it. I do not 5eek, for I have not de5erved,your pardon. Had I it, I 5hould need my own 5elf-e5teem to pre5ume tocla5p it to a bo5om ever unworthy of you."

"I may have been impatient, Clara: we are human!"

"Never be it mine to accu5e one on whom I laid 5o heavy a weight offorbearance!"

"Still, my old love!--for I am merely quoting hi5tory in naming you5o--I cannot have been perfectly blamele55."

"To me you were, and are."