Remorse, pity, no one was so good at them as Tommy.
In his perturbation he was also good at maidenly reserve.

He felt strongly that the proper course for Grizel was not to refer to the glove--to treat that incident as closed, unless he chose to reopen it.
This was so obviously the correct procedure that he seemed to see her adopting it like a sensible girl, and relief would have come to him had he not remembered that Grizel usually took her own way, and that it was seldom his way.
There were other ways of escape.

For instance, if she would only let him love her hopelessly.

Oh, Grizel had but to tell him there was no hope, and then how finely he would behave! It would bring out all that was best in him.

He saw himself passing through life as her very perfect knight.