If she chose
to be absent at such a moment, HE had at least done HIS duty. In short,
there was scarcely any absurdity of the imagination which this once
practical man did not permit himself to indulge in, yet always with a
certain consciousness that he was allowing his feelings to run away with
him,--a fact that did not tend to make him better humored, and rather
inclined him to place the responsibility of the elopement on somebody
else. If Miss De Haro had been home, &c. &c., and not going into
ecstasies over speeches, &c. &c., and had attended to her business, i.
e., being exactly what he had supposed her to be,--all this would not
have happened.
I am aware that this will not heighten the reader's respect for my hero.
But I fancy that the imperceptible progress of a sincere passion in the
matured strong man is apt to be marked with even more than the usual
haste and absurdity of callous youth.
The fever that runs riot in the veins of the robust is apt to pass your
ailing weakling by.
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