had told himself over
and over again that were there no Lucy in the case he would not marry
her; that she was affected, unreal,--and, in fact, a liar in every
word and look and motion which came from her with premeditation.
Judging, not from her own account, but from circumstances as he saw
them and such evidence as had reached him, he did not condemn her
in reference to the diamonds. He had never for a moment conceived
that she had secreted them. He acquitted her altogether from those
special charges which had been widely circulated against her; but,
nevertheless, he knew her to be heartless and bad. He had told
himself a dozen times that it would be well for him that she should
be married and taken out of his hands. And yet he loved her after a
fashion, and was prone to sit near her, and was fool enough to be
flattered by her caresses. When she would lay her hand on his arm, a
thrill of pleasure went through him. And yet he would willingly have
seen any decent man take her and marry her, making a bargain that
he should never see her again. Young or old, men are apt to become
Merlins when they encounter Viviens. On this occasion he left her,
disgusted indeed, but not having told her that he was disgusted.
"Come again, Frank, to-morrow, won't you?" she said. He made her no
promise as he went, nor had she expected it. He had left her quite
abruptly the other day, and he now went away almost in the same
fashion. But she was not surprised. She understood that the task she
had in hand was one very difficult to be accomplished,--and she did
perceive, in some dark way, that, good as her acting was, it was not
quite good enough. Lucy held her ground because she was real. You
may knock about a diamond, and not even scratch it; whereas paste
in rough usage betrays itself. Lizzie, with all her self-assuring
protestations, knew that she was paste, and knew that Lucy was real
stone. Why could she not force herself to act a little better, so
that the paste might be as good as the stone,--might at least seem to
be as good? "If he despises me now, what will he say when he finds it
all out?" she asked herself.

As for Frank Greystock himself, though he had quite made up his mind
about Lizzie Eustace, he was still in doubt about the other girl. At
the present moment he was making over two thousand pounds a year,
and yet was more in debt now than he had been a year ago. When he
attempted to look at his affairs, he could not even rememb