A refined and virtuous woman had hitherto existed for him merely in the sanctuary of his imagination; he had known not one such.

If he passed one in the street, the effect of the momentary proximity was only to embitter his thoughts, by reminding him of the hopeless gulf fixed between his world and that in which such creatures had their being.

In revenge, he tried to soil the purity of his ideals; would have persuaded himself that the difference between the two spheres was merely in externals, that he was imposed upon by wealth, education, and superficial refinement of manners.

Happily he had never really succeeded in thus deceiving himself, and the effort had only served to aggravate his miseries.

The habit of mind, however, had shown itself in the earlier stages of his acquaintance with Miss Enderby.