Consequently, for a personal indulgence, she mused; she caressed maternally the object of her musing; of necessity, she excluded Nesta; but in tenderness she gave Dartrey a fair one to love him.
The scene was waved away.

That one so loving him, partly worthy of him, ready to traverse the world now beside him--who could it be other than she who knew and prized his worth?
Foolish! It is one of the hatefuller scourges upon women whenever, a little shaken themselves, they muse upon some man's image, that they cannot put in motion the least bit of drama without letting feminine self play a part; generally to develop into a principal part...

The apology makes it a melancholy part.
Dartrey's temper of the caged lion dominated by his tamer, served as keynote for any amount of saddest colouring.

He controlled the brute: but he held the contempt of danger, the love of strife, the passion for adventure; he had crossed the desert of human anguish.

He of all men required a devoted mate, merited her.