ded
him in that direction. When he came to read the 'Vita Nuova,' it was of
Adela expressly that he thought. The poet's passion of worship entered
his heart; transferring his present feeling to his earlier self, he grew
to regard his recent madness as a lapse from the true love of his life.
He persuaded himself that he had loved Adela in a far more serious way
than any of the others who from time to time had been her rivals, and
that the love was now returning to him, strengthened and exalted. He
began to write sonnets in Dante's manner, striving to body forth in
words the new piety which illumined his life. Whereas love had been to
him of late a glorification of the senses, he now cleansed himself from
what he deemed impurity and adored in mere ecstasy of the spirit. Adela
soon became rather a symbol than a living woman; he identified her with
the ends to which his life darkly aspired, and all but convinced himself
that memory and imagination would henceforth suffice to him.

In the autumn he went down to Agworth, and spent a few days with his
mother. The temptation to walk over to Wanley and call upon the Walthams
proved too strong to be resisted. His rejection at their door was rather
a shock than a surprise; it had never occurred to him that the old
friendly relations had been in any way disturbed; he explained Mrs.
Waltham's behaviour by supposing that his silence had offended her,
and perhaps his failure to take leave of her before quitting Wanley.
Possibly she thought he had dealt lightly with Adela. Offence on purely
moral grounds did not even suggest itself.

He returned to London anxious and unhappy. The glimpse of Adela sitting
at the window had brought him back to reality; after all it was no
abstraction that had become the constant companion of his solitude; his
love was far more real for that moment's vision of the golden head, and
had a very real power of afflicting him with melancholy. He faltered in
his studies, and once again had lost the motive to exertion. Then came
the letter from his mother, telling of Adela's rumoured engagement. It
caused him to set forth almost immediately.

The alternation of moods exhibited in his conversation with Mr. Wyvern
continued to agitate him during the night. Now it seemed impossible
to approach Adela in any way; now he was prepared to defy every
consideration in order to save her and secure his own happiness. Then,
after dwelling for awhile on the difficulties of h