if he had seen, say, fifty
more before he had married her? Certainly not; and when he sees other
women afterwards, better than the one he has chosen, he naturally admires
them. If he does not--he is a fool, but he is bound to check himself. He
puts them aside and is obliged to be satisfied with his wife. If it were
permissible in him in such a case to abandon her, a pretty chaos we
should be in. It is clearly his duty, and quite as clearly in his power,
to be thus contented--at least, in nine cases out of ten. He _may_--and
this is my point--he _may_ wilfully turn away from what is admirable in
his own house, or he may turn towards it. He is as responsible for
turning away from it, or turning towards it, as he is for any of his
actions. If he says he cannot love a wife who is virtuous and good, I
call him not only stupid, but wicked--yes, wicked: people in Eastthorpe
will tell you I do not know what that word means, because I do not go to
church, and do not believe in what they do not believe themselves, but
still I say wicked--wicked because he _can_ love his wife, just as he can
refrain from robbing his neighbour, and wicked because there is a bit of
excellence stuck down before him for _him_ to value. It is not intended
for others, but for _him_, and he deserts the place appointed him by
Nature if he neglects it."

"You have wonderful self-control, Dr. Turnbull. I can understand that a
man might refrain from open expression of his love for a woman, whatever
his passion for her might be, for, if he did not so restrain himself, he
might mar the peace of some other person who was better than himself, and
better deserved that his happiness should not be wrecked; but as for
love, it may be beyond him to suppress it."

"Well, Miss Furze," replied the doctor, smiling, "we are going beyond our
own experience, I hope. However, what I have said is true. I suppose it
is because it is my business to cure disease that I always strive to
extend the realm of what is _subject_ to us. You seem to be fond of an
argument. Some day we will debate the point how far the proper
appreciation even of a picture or a melody is within our own power. But
I am a queer kind of doctor. I have never asked you how you are, and you
are one of my patients."

"Better."

"That is good, but you must be careful, especially in the evening. It
was not quite prudent to sit up last night at the Crowhursts', but yet,
on the whole, it was ri