Fancies unintelligible to practical people like women--thus Stella Croyle's thoughts ran--but to be taken note of very carefully.

High-flown motives from a world of white angels, where no doubt they are very suitable.

But men will use them as working motives here below, with the result that they wreck women's hearts and cause themselves a great deal of useless misery.
Stella's hopes and her self-esteem had for long played with the thought that it might possibly be one of those impracticable notions which had whipped Harry Luttrell up to the rupture of their alliance; that after all, it was not that he was tired of a chain.

Yes, she wanted to know.
"Luttrell only told me once, only spoke about it once," said Hillyard shifting from one foot to the other.

"The week after the eights.