Though social law had negatived forever their opening paradise of the previous June, it was not without stoical pride that he accepted the present trying conjuncture.

There was one man on earth in whom she believed absolutely, and he was that man.
That this crisis could end in nothing but sorrow was a view for a moment effaced by this triumphant thought of her trust in him; and the purity of the affection with which he responded to that trust rendered him more than proof against any frailty that besieged him in relation to her.
The rain, which had never ceased, now drew his attention by beginning to drop through the meagre screen that covered him.

He rose to attempt some remedy for this discomfort, but the trembling of his knees and the throbbing of his pulse told him that in his weakness he was unable to fence against the storm, and he lay down to bear it as best he might.
He was angry with himself for his feebleness--he who had been so strong.

It was imperative that she should know nothing of his present state, and to do that she must not see his face by daylight, for its color would inevitably betray him.
The next morning, accordingly, when it was hardly light, he rose and dragged his stiff limbs about the precincts, preparing for her everything she could require for getting breakfast within.

On the bench outside the window-sill he placed water, wood, and other necessaries, writing with a piece of chalk beside them, "It is best that I should not see you.