It is not pleasant to trace the steps by which the simple credulous girl fell into the snare laid for her.

She had sense and reason, but they were both overbalanced by romance--she saw only the ideal side of everything.

The romance of this hidden love was delightful to her; she compared herself to every heroine in fiction, and found none of them in a more charming position that herself.
Allan's profession had something to do with romance; had he been a mere commonplace doctor or lawyer it would have been a different matter, but an artist--the halo of his art transfigured him in her eyes--thus to be capable of a deep and passionate love such as he felt for her! It was altogether like one of those romances that charmed her; and after a time she gave herself up entirely to her love.
By the skilful mamnagement of Adelaide Lyster their meetings became very frequent, and before long he had won from her a promise that she would love him all her life, and would consent to marry him.

Even at that time, when she was most ecstatic, most carried away by the novelty and the romance, even then, if any sensible person had spoken to her, she would have understood more her position than she did now.
If anyone had said to her: "That man is not a hero, he is only a fortune hunter; he is not even an honorable man, or he would not seek to decoy you from your duty to bind you to an underhand agreement; instead of being honorable and a hero he is dishonorable and a rogue"-- she had sense enough to have seen that.

She understood enough of the laws of honor to know when they were broken.