"This is life!" He did not know whether Grace was awake or not, and he would not turn his head to ascertain.

"Ah, fool," he went on to himself, "to clip your own wings when you were free to soar!...But I could not rest till I had done it.

Why do I never recognize an opportunity till I have missed it, nor the good or ill of a step till it is irrevocable!...I fell in love....Love, indeed!-- "'Love's but the frailty of the mind When 'tis not with ambition joined; A sickly flame which if not fed, expires, And feeding, wastes in self-consuming fires!' Ah, old author of 'The Way of the World,' you knew--you knew!" Grace moved.

He thought she had heard some part of his soliloquy.

He was sorry--though he had not taken any precaution to prevent her.
He expected a scene at breakfast, but she only exhibited an extreme reserve.