He foresaw that Lida would make some claim upon him, and that he must
either consent, or else commit a base, vile act. He appeared to be as
utterly powerless as if the bones had been removed from his legs and
arms, and as if, instead of a tongue in his mouth, there were a moist
rag. He wanted to shout at her, and let her know once for all that she
had no right to ask anything of him, but his heart was benumbed by
craven fear, and to his lips there rose a senseless phrase which he
knew to be absolutely unfitting.
"Oh! women, women!"
Lida looked at him in horror. A pitiless light seemed to flash across
her mind. In one instant she realized that she was lost. What she had
given that was noble and pure, she had given to a man that did not
exist. Her fair young life, her purity, her pride, had all been flung
at the feet of a base, cowardly brute who instead of being grateful to
her had merely soiled her by acts of coarse lubricity. For a moment she
felt ready to wring her hands and fall to the ground in an agony of
despair, but lightning-swift her mood changed to one of revenge and
bitter hatred.
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