This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 edition. Excerpt: ...turn and hold her, and he sat on in the dark long after his pipe had gone out, his heart full of a strange and wonderful new hope. CHAPTER XVI THE SPELL HOLDS GOOD "Not law, not duty, nor the warning voice Of saint or angel keeps Love's compass true." T OVE is probably--in the realms of romance--' it is ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 edition. Excerpt: ...turn and hold her, and he sat on in the dark long after his pipe had gone out, his heart full of a strange and wonderful new hope. CHAPTER XVI THE SPELL HOLDS GOOD "Not law, not duty, nor the warning voice Of saint or angel keeps Love's compass true." T OVE is probably--in the realms of romance--' it is admittedly--the greatest force in the world. It can perform miracles and move mountains, metaphorically speaking, yet it is practically powerless to alter natures. That is to say that a great love may idealise to the heart of the lover the form and character of the beloved; it will blind him to her imperfections, dazzle him with her otherwise undetected charms, but it will in no sort of way change her in any one else's eyes except his own. In fact love can work all miracles in the nature of the one who loves, but it has little or no effect upon the one beloved. So with Esther: though the sudden rush of feeling and self-abasement which she experienced towards Gerald on that evening of explanation was undoubtedly genuine in bringing her nearer to loving him than she had ever been before, it lacked the vital force behind it. She did not, could not, so Fate willed it, really love him, and apart from love she could not possibly have found a character less in sympathy with her own than his. He was forever, and mercifully for himself, quite unwittingly, irritating her--the very placidity and evenness of his nature drove her sometimes to the verge of hysterics. She had the same feeling of intolerance towards him that one gets towards a dog which, all desirous of pleasing you, is yet quite incapable of understanding what you want. They had, as may be imagined, no tastes in common; Gerald indeed was not difficult to please--he had the healthy, typical...
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