him unharmed. He could not, indeed, have raised his hand against anything
which Madeline cared for. However great his animosity had been, that fact
would have made his rival taboo to him. That Madeline had turned away
from him was the great matter. Whither she was turned was of subordinate
importance. His trouble was that she loved Cordis, not that Cordis loved
her. It is only low and narrow natures which can find vent for their love
disappointments in rage against their successors. In the strictest,
truest sense, indeed, although it is certainly a hard saying, there is no
room in a clear mind for such a feeling of jealousy. For the way in which
every two hearts approach each other is necessarily a peculiar
combination of individualities, never before and never after exactly
duplicated in human experience. So that, if we can conceive of a woman
truly loving several lovers, whether successively or simultaneously, they
would not be rivals, for the manner of her love for each, and the manner
of each one's love for her, is peculiar and single, even as if they two
were alone in the world. The higher the mental grade of the persons
concerned, the wider their sympathies, and the more delicate their
perceptions, the more true is this.

Henry had been recently offered a very good position in an arms
manufactory in Boston, and, having made up his mind to leave the village,
he wrote to accept it, and promptly followed his letter, having first
pledged his sole Newville correspondent, Laura, to make no references to
Madeline in her letters.

"If they should be married," he was particular to say, "don't tell me
about it till some time afterward."

Perhaps he worked the better in his new place because he was unhappy.
The foe of good work is too easy self-complacency, too ready