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Charlemont; Or, the Pride of the Village. a Tale of Kentucky by William Gilmore Simms
page 149 of 518 (28%)
knew not well what he had said, so he fancied he had said everything
precisely as the passionate thought had suggested it in his own
mind. Already he began to blame himself--to feel that he had done
wrong--that there had been nothing in the conduct or manner of
Stevens, however unpleasant, to justify his own violence; and that
the true secret of his anger was to be found in that instinctive
hostility which he had felt for his rival from the first. The more
he mused, the more he became humbled by his thoughts; and when he
recollected the avowed profession of Stevens his shame increased.
He felt how shocking it was to intimate to a sworn non-combatant
the idea of a personal conflict. To what point of self-abasement his
thoughts would have carried him, may only be conjectured; he might
have hurried forward to overtake his antagonist with the distinct
purpose of making the most ample apology; nay, more, such was the
distinct thought which was now pressing upon his mind, when he was
saved from this humiliation by perceiving that Stevens had already
reached, and was about to enter the dwelling of Margaret Cooper.
With this sight, every thought and feeling gave place to that of
baffled love, and disappointed affection. With a bitter groan he
turned up the gorge, and soon shut himself from sight of the now
hateful habitation.






CHAPTER XII.

THE MASTER AND HIS PUPILS.
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