Yes, he had frequently told himself all this; told it to others, too.
But, now, the younger set, _en masse_ and in detail, had become a little
bit _cramponne_--a trifle too all-pervading. And it was because his
regard for them, in the abstract, had become centred in a single
concrete example that he began to find the younger set a nuisance. But
others, it seemed, were quite as mad about Eileen Erroll as he was; and
there seemed to be small chance for him to possess himself of her,
unless he were prepared to make the matter of possession a pointed
episode. This he knew he had no right to do; she had conferred no such
privilege upon him; and he was obliged to be careful of what he did and
said lest half a thousand bright unwinking eyes wink too knowingly--lest
frivolous tongues go clip-clap, and idle brains infer that which, alas!
did not exist except in his vision of desire.
The Hither Woods had been hung with myriads of lanterns. From every
branch they swung in clusters or stretched away into perspective,
turning the wooded aisles to brilliant vistas.
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