He would not have admitted that he was wronging the man whom he made his tool; if honesty failed under temptation it was honesty's own look-out.

Ten to one he himself would have fallen into such a trap, in similar circumstances; he was quite free from pharisaical prejudice; had he not reckoned on mere human nature in devising his plan?
Nor would the result be cruel, for he had it in his power to repay a hundredfold all temporary pain.

There were no limits to the kindness he was capable of, when once he had Emily for his wife; she and hers should be overwhelmed with the fruits of his devotion.

It was to no gross or commonplace future that the mill-owner looked forward.
There were things in him of which he was beginning to be conscious, which would lead him he could not yet see whither.

Dunfield was no home for Emily; he knew it, and felt that he, too, would henceforth have need of a larger circle of life.