He had once remarked, embodying a truth in one of his
frequent whimsically perverse statements, that the worst thing which
could be said of him was that he was incapable of a great crime, and
only the constant pressure of an annoyance, such as the threats of
Irons in regard to Ninitta, or the presence of an equally constant
temptation, such as that to which he was now succumbing in allowing his
relations with Mrs. Herman to become more and more intimate, would have
brought him to any marked transgression.
In a nature such as that of Fenton there is, with the exception of
vanity and the instinct of self-preservation, no trait stronger than
curiosity. The artist was devoured by an eager, intellectual greed to
know all things, to experience all sensations, to taste all savors of
life. He made no distinction between good and bad; his zeal for
knowledge was too keen to allow of his being deterred by the line
ordinarily drawn between pain and pleasure. His affections, his
passions, his morals were all subordinate to this burning curiosity,
and only his instinct of self-preservation subtly making itself felt in
the guise of expediency, and his vanity prettily disguised as taste,
held the thirst for knowledge in check.
It was by far more the desire to learn whether he could bend Ninitta to
his will than it was passion which carried Fenton forward in the
dangerous path upon which he was now well advanced; and it was perhaps
more than either a half-unconscious eagerness to taste a new
experience.
Pages:
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199