There was but one thing to do, and, disagreeable as it
might be, he must accept the situation. The mention of the word "duty"
reminded him that he had long ago settled in his own mind the folly of
being bound down by superstitions masquerading under grand names as
ethical principles. The duty of self-preservation was above all others.
He must defend himself, no matter if he did violate the principles by
which fools allowed their lives to be narrowed and hampered. He would
set himself to work upon Hubbard to-morrow, and get this unpleasant
thing over.
His sitter came down from the dais upon which she had been sitting, and
held out her hand.
"You have decided my life for me," she said, in a low voice, "and I
thank you."
Those who knew her perplexities had argued with her in vain; and this
stranger, talking to his own inner self, had said the final word which
had moved her to a conclusion they had not been able to force upon her.
He looked up with a smile, as he pressed her hand, but he said nothing;
refraining from adding, as he might have done truthfully,--
"And I have decided my own."
XIII
THIS "WOULD" CHANGES.
Hamlet; iv.--7.
Melissa Blake was growing paler in these days, worn with the ache of a
hurt love. Since the night on which he had parted from her in anger,
John had been to see her only on brief errands which he could not well
avoid, and while he had made no allusion to the difference which
separated them, it was evident that he still brooded over his fancied
grievance.
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