'I have shown her no such preference, nor made any advances that would show I want to win her favour.

Without denying that she is beautiful, is it so certain it is the kind of beauty I admire?
She has scores of fascinations--I do not deny it; but should I say that I trust her?
And if I should trust her and love her too, where must it all end in?
I do not believe in her theory that love will transform a fellow of my mould into a hero, not to say that I have my own doubt if she herself believes it.

I wonder if Kate reads her more clearly?
Girls so often understand each other by traits we have no clue to; and it was Kate who asked her, almost in tone of entreaty, "to spare me," to save me from a hopeless passion, just as though I were some peasant-boy who had set his affection on a princess.

Is that the way, then, the world would read our respective conditions?
The son of a ruined house or the guest of a beggared family leaves little to choose between! Kate--the world--would call my lot the better of the two.

The man's chance is not irretrievable, at least such is the theory.