letters, but these were
new, and he handled like a child an outcome of civilization which had
never before been touched by his fingers. A sudden fastidious decision
that the pattern chosen would not suit her after all caused him to rise
in a flurry and tear down the street to change them for others. After
a great deal of trouble in reselecting, during which his mind became so
bewildered that the critical faculty on objects of art seemed to have
vacated his person altogether, Knight carried off another pair of
ear-rings. These remained in his possession till the afternoon, when,
after contemplating them fifty times with a growing misgiving that the
last choice was worse than the first, he felt that no sleep would visit
his pillow till he had improved upon his previous purchases yet again.
In a perfect heat of vexation with himself for such tergiversation, he
went anew to the shop-door, was absolutely ashamed to enter and give
further trouble, went to another shop, bought a pair at an enormously
increased price, because they seemed the very thing, asked the
goldsmiths if they would take the other pair in exchange, was told that
they could not exchange articles bought of another maker, paid down the
money, and went off with the two pairs in his possession, wondering what
on earth to do with the superfluous pair. He almost wished he could
lose them, or that somebody would steal them, and was burdened with an
interposing sense that, as a capable man, with true ideas of economy,
he must necessarily sell them somewhere, which he did at last for a mere
song. Mingled with a blank feeling of a whole day being lost to him in
running about the city on this new and extraordinary class of errand,
and of several pounds being lost through his bungling, was a slight
sense of satisfaction that he had emerged for ever from his antediluvian
ignorance on the subject of ladies' jewellery, as well as secured a
truly artistic production at last. During the remainder of that day
he scanned the ornaments of every lady he met with the profoundly
experienced eye of an appraiser.

Next morning Knight was again crossing St. George's Channel--not
returning to London by the Holyhead route as he had originally intended,
but towards Bristol--availing himself of Mr. and Mrs. Swancourt's
invitation to revisit them on his homeward journey.

We flit forward to Elfride.

Woman's ruling passion--to fascinate and influence those more powerful
than she--tho