He will not have been
too proud of that endeavour; it will have seemed but a little thing to
him--a thing full of faults and imperfections, and falling far short
of his ideal. He will not even have attached a great importance to his
success, because, if he is a person of this calibre, he must remember
how small it is, when all is said and done; that even in his day there
are those who can beat him on his own ground; and also that all worldly
success, like the most perfect flower, yet bears in it the elements of
decay. But he will have reflected with humble satisfaction on those long
years of patient striving which have at length lifted him to an eminence
whence he can climb on and on, scarcely encumbered by the jostling
crowd; till at length, worn out, the time comes for him to fall.
So Geoffrey thought and felt. The thing was to be done, and he had done
it. Honoria should have money now; she should no longer be able to twit
him with their poverty. Yes, and a better thought still, Beatrice would
be glad to hear of his little triumph.
He reached home rather late. Honoria was going out to dinner with a
distinguished cousin, and was already dressing.
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