All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind.

He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position.

He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer.

They were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions.

But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results.