Sadie had shown him marked favor, but there was much he might lose.
She would not have charmed him when he first came to the prairie with romantic hopes and vague ambitions.

He had been fastidious then, and the image of a very different girl occupied his heart.

Even now he knew the other stood for all that was best in life; for tender romances, and sweetness, and high purpose.

Helen had gracious qualities he had once half-reverently admired.

She loved pictures and books and music, and was marked by a calm serenity that was very different from Sadie's restless force.