But in view of Mary's admirable self-control, I found myself falling into a method of thought morally then prevalent with all modish men.

I confess with shame that I hoped to have Mary for my wife and Bettina to love me and to be loved.

I did not know Betty then, and have regretted all my life that once I looked upon her as--well, as a barmaid.

While I thoroughly realized that she was an unusual girl in many respects, still I held to a theory then prevalent that barmaids were created to be kissed.
When I reached the Old Swan, I chose a table in a remote corner of the tap-room, ordered a lobster from one of the maids, and, while waiting for it, drank a cup of wormwood wine.
The place seemed dingy and drear with its great ceiling beams of time-darkened oak, its long, narrow windows of small square panes, its black fireplace, lifeless without the flames, and its dark, grim mahogany bar stretching halfway across the south side of the room.

The white floor, well sanded and polished, seemed only to accentuate the general gloom, and the great clock, ticking solemnly behind the bar, seemed to be marking time for a funeral dirge.