And as soon as the tone of her voice had died out, and the surprise faded from his mind, he found himself believing that she had spoken the truth, for he had but little vanity, and soon her refusal seemed a natural thing to him.

He slipped through all the grades of despondency until he reached a bottom of absolute gloom.

Failure seemed to mark the whole of his life; he had failed with Katharine, and now he had failed with Mary.

Up at once sprang the thought of Katharine, and with it a sense of exulting freedom, but this he checked instantly.

No good had ever come to him from Katharine; his whole relationship with her had been made up of dreams; and as he thought of the little substance there had been in his dreams he began to lay the blame of the present catastrophe upon his dreams.
"Haven't I always been thinking of Katharine while I was with Mary?
I might have loved Mary if it hadn't been for that idiocy of mine.