She thought John was the blindest of his sex; but she was, to a certain extent, mistaken.

John was blind, as you already know, but his reticence was not all due to a lack of sight.

He at least had reached the condition of a well-developed hope.

He hoped the girl cared for him.

He would have fully believed it had it not been for the difficulty he found in convincing himself that a goddess like Dorothy could care for a man so unworthy as himself.