Of course he had
set it down to female infidelity; he had served her turn, she had made
a fool of him, and that was all she wanted. Now he might enjoy
his humiliation. It did not occur to him that it might be simple
"cussedness," to borrow an energetic American term, or that she had not
really changed, but was angry with him for some reason which she did
not choose to show. It is difficult to weigh the motives of women in the
scales of male experience, and many other men besides Geoffrey have
been forced to give up the attempt and to console themselves with the
reflection that the inexplicable is generally not worth understanding.
Yes, probably it would be the same case over again. And yet, and
yet--was Beatrice of that class? Had she not too much of a man's
straightforwardness of aim to permit her to play such tricks? In the
bottom of his soul he thought that she had, but he would not admit it
to himself. The fact of the matter was that, half unknowingly, he was
trying to drug his conscience. He knew that in his longing to see her
dear face once more he had undertaken a dangerous thing.
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