I Forbid the Banns! — page 268: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

258 “7 FORBID THE BANNS!” He had alluded to Mr. Hardy as an old fool. Could it be possible that, after all, it was he himself who had been the fool, while Mr. Hardy was the wise man? He was beginning to fear that he was attaining to a com- plete knowledge of the meaning of that sensation which had come to him with the suddenness of a sharp stab, first when he had seen Eric Vicars grasping the two hands of Bertha, and again when he had seen Bertha smiling up to the face of the man by whose side she was now sitting, waally hidden by the weeping ash. Jealousy—jealousy—jealousy was the word that sounded in his ears like the strange rhythm of an incantation. It occurred to him that he was the victim of an incantation. He remembered one that he had read. The doom of the man—his name was Manfred—was in the line, Thou shalt never be alone. His doom was just the opposite, he felt: he was to be for- ever alone. He loved with all his soul that beautiful girl who had gone away fromi him—this was how he put the matter—with another man, and yet she was bound to him by no tie. He had no ) power to go to her and bring her back to his side. He had talked freely of the indissoluble nature of the ties woven by loveand loveonly. He had talked of that blessed mingling of souls which constituted a true marriage. What part did jealousy play in this scheme of social reform, he asked himself. If soul had mingled with soul, so that they were not two souls, but one, how could jealousy find a crevice in which to lodge? ‘‘My God!’’ he cried inwardly. ‘‘Is it possible that I have been deceiving myself all along? Is it possible that I have deceived her all along? Is it possible that I have brought her into my house under a pretense—the pretensethat I felt the truth of her theories regarding love and marriage?”’’ Gomichookssco m