Weaker than a Woman — page 98: what you’re looking at

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

WEAKER THAN A WOMAN. 89 CHAPTER XVII, STILL TRUE. “Tf I had been Mephistopheles himself I could not have . managed better,” thought Sir Owen, as he watched the three visitors who were of such vital consequence to him. “Seeing I have had just what I wanted all my life, it is not likely I shall begin to go without it now. After all, what is a promise of marriage? What does it mean? People break them every day, and every day they are broken for them—loss of fortune, loss of health, a hundred common place reasons—loss of fancy—all make a promise of mar- riage null and void. Such aman as this Lonsdale had no right to ask a girl like Violet Haye to sacrifice herself to him. It is the privilege of a rich man to win for himself such beauty as hers. So far from doing a bad action, I am doing a good one in rescuing this beautiful girl from pov- erty and obscurity. Whatisa broken promise? She has said she will marry him—she finds that she has made a mistake, and alters her mind. if any one sees wrong in that I do not know what wrong 1s.” These reflections were caused = a simple remark made by Captain Hill. He had said: “Has any one told you, Sir Owen, that Violet Haye is engaged to marry Felix Lonsdale?’’ And the baronet’s an- swer had been a muttered curse. He had believed himself in such a lofty position that he could do as he liked without comment, but he found it was not so. The girl whom he was so madly pursuing, whom he had sworn to win, come what might, was engaged to another man, and people would make their cwn comments about the matter. So he reasoned and argued with himself —and to himself his ideas seemed excellent—that honor was simply a dead letter—it did not exist; it was a virtue to be subordinated to convenience—a promise was mere empty words, with no meaning, and he consoled himself by trying to believe that he was doing good rather than harm. That Violet would ultimately refuse him he did not for one moment believe. No woman, he argued, could be proof against such temptations as he offered. _ This was the day on which he had promised to take Vio- | let and her parents back to the Limes. He was very un- — Eomichoo “S (e(e) m