"
"Is there anything noticeable about Henry when they meet?" I asked.
"Not to an ordinary observer," replied Mrs. Dean. "But I look with
sharper eyes than most people. Yes, there is something noticeable.
He always puts himself in her way, but with a kind of forced,
resolute manner, as if the act were a trial of strength, and
involved a stern heart-discipline. And this I think, is just the
real state of the case. He has deliberately and resolutely entered
upon the work of unwinding from his heart the cord which love his
thrown around it in so many intertwisted folds. So I read him. To
break it by sudden force, would leave so many unwound portions
behind, that the memory of her might sadden the whole of his
after-life. And so he is learning to grow indifferent towards her.
To search in her for such things as repel, instead of for those that
charm the heart."
"A dangerous experiment," said my wife, "for one who has loved so
deeply."
"It would be to most men," I remarked. "But there is stuff about
Henry--the stuff that strong, persistent, successful men are made
of.
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