Excerpt: ...with all the thwarted energy of her soul. She wanted to work for somebody, not to be worked for-and no one needed her, no one except this man. She looked at him. She saw that her long silence was torture to him; she saw that he was suffering genuinely, and her heart went out to him in pity. Pity is a woman's invariable undoing. How many women-sometimes happy, sometimes unhappy, according to the rulings of an inscrutable Fate-have married, partly out of flattered vanity, but chiefly because they are good-hearted, ...
Read More
Excerpt: ...with all the thwarted energy of her soul. She wanted to work for somebody, not to be worked for-and no one needed her, no one except this man. She looked at him. She saw that her long silence was torture to him; she saw that he was suffering genuinely, and her heart went out to him in pity. Pity is a woman's invariable undoing. How many women-sometimes happy, sometimes unhappy, according to the rulings of an inscrutable Fate-have married, partly out of flattered vanity, but chiefly because they are good-hearted, and labor under the mistaken conviction that a man's happiness rests on their decision? And in this particular instance Lois was honestly attached to Travers. She felt that to lose him would be to lose a friend whom she could ill spare. Yet a blind instinct forced her to a last resistance. "I do not love you," she repeated, almost desperately. "I do not ask for that now, because I know that it will come. I ask you to be my lifelong friend and helper. Remember your promise, Lois! Has not the time come when we need each other-when no one else is left?" He took her hand again. He felt that she was won. "If you need me-I care for you enough to try and love you as my husband." "Thank you, Lois!" His inborn tact and knowledge of the human character stood him again in good stead. He made no violent demonstration of his triumph and happiness, thus breaking roughly into a region which as yet for him was dangerous ground. As he had done months before, when the road to success had seemed blocked, he lifted her hand reverently and gratefully to his lips. Thus it was that Captain Adam Nicholson waited patiently but in vain for Travers' return with his old playfellow. As one by one the Rajah's guests took their departure in order to prepare for the evening's festivities, he gave up his last hope. "I suppose it was too late," he thought ruefully. "Or-she was so young, and it's many years ago-maybe she has forgotten." It was not till long...
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Howitt, John Newton. Very Good. Book. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Reprint of Bobbs-Merrill edition (1910). No publication date. Decorative green silk binding. Frontispiece and illustrations by John Newton Howitt. 417 [2 ads] pp. Fragment of original dustjacket, half of front cover showing girl and front dustjacket flap laid in (repaired tear). A romantic novel exploring race in India, Indian mysticism, and the question of national identity. Light soiling and fading to boards, still an attractive copy in very good condition.
