hts he occupied, in spite of her
declaration that she did not like him, he might have had some hope of a
more favorable hearing in the future. But he had no conception of any
under-current of feeling in Margaret Adair. She had always seemed to him
so frank, with a sweet, maidenly frankness, so transparent--without
shallowness, that he was thrown into despair when she dismissed him. He
was singularly ignorant of the nature of women, and more especially of
young girls. His mother's proud, upright, rather inflexible character,
conjoined with great warmth of affection and rare nobility of mind, had
given him a high standard by which to judge other women. He had never
had a sister, and was not particularly observant of young girls. It was
therefore a greater disappointment to him than it would have been to
many men to find that Margaret could be a little bit obstinate, a little
bit selfish, and not at all disposed to sacrifice herself for others.
She lowered his whole conception of womankind.

At least, so he said to himself, as he sat that evening after dinner
over his library fire, and fell into a mood of somewhat sombre hue. What
poets and philosophers had said of the changeful, capricious, shallow,
and selfish nature of women was then true? His mother was a grand
exception to the rule, 'twas true; but there were no women like her now.
These modern girls thought of nothing but luxury, comfort,
self-indulgence. They had no high ideals, no thought of the seriousness
of life.

But even as he made his hot accusation against women of the present day,
his heart smote him a little for his injustice. He certainly did know
one girl who was eminently faithful and true; who worked hard, and, as
he had just found out, suffered greatly--a girl whose true nobility of
mind and life was revealed to him as if by a lightning flash of
intuition.

What a helpmate Janetta Colwyn would be to any man! Her bright
intelligence, her gift of song, her piquante, transitory beauty, her
honesty and faithfulness, made up an individuality of distinct
attractiveness. And yet he was not very much attracted. He admired her,
he respected her; but his pulses did not quicken at the thought of her
as they quickened when he thought of Margaret. Why should they indeed?
She was a country surgeon's daughter, of no particular family; she had
very undesirable connections, and she was very poor--there was nothing
in Janetta's outer circumstances to make her a fitt