She would come to love him in time, he said to himself, trusting as blindly
in the power of time to work this wonder for him as Clarissa herself had
trusted when she set herself to win her father's affection. He believed
this not so much because the thing was probable or feasible, as because he
desired it with an intensity of feeling that blinded him to the force
of hard facts. He--the man who had never made a false reckoning in the
mathematics of business-life--whose whole career was unmarred by a
mistake--whose greatest successes had been the result of unrivalled
coolness of brain and unerring foresight--he, the hard-headed, far-seeing
man of the world--was simple as a child in this matter, which involved the
greater hazard of his heart.
But while Clarissa's husband trusted her with such boundless confidence,
Clarissa's stepdaughter watched her with the vigilant eyes of prejudice,
not to say hatred. That a young lady so well brought up as Miss Granger--so
thoroughly grounded in Kings and Chronicles--should entertain the vulgar
passion of hate, seemed quite out of the question; but so far as a
ladylike aversion may go, Miss Granger certainly went in relation to her
step-mother. In this she was sustained by that model damsel Hannah Warman,
who, not having made much progress in Mrs. Granger's liking, had discovered
that she could not "take to" that lady, and was always ready to dilate upon
her shortcomings, whenever her mistress permitted.
Pages:
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383