And then you will start away on your tour, and be miserable ever after." "I am glad you have done," was Barker's comment.
"As for me," said Claudius, "I am of course not acquainted with the peculiarities of American life, but I fancy the Duke is rather severe in his judgment." It was a mild protest against a wholesale condemnation of American marriages; but Barker and the Duke only laughed as if they understood each other, and Claudius had nothing more to say.

He mentally compared the utterances of these men, doubtless grounded on experience, with the formulas he had made for himself about women, and which were undeniably the outcome of pure theory.

He found himself face to face with the old difficulty, the apparent discord between the universal law and the individual fact.

But, on the other hand, he could not help comparing himself with his two companions.

It was not in his nature to think slightingly of other men, but he felt that they were of a totally different mould, besides belonging to a different race.