Her strength and dignity, her softness and dependency, to say nothing of her beauty, fitted her with the necessary weapons for my complete and utter subjugation.

And utterly subjugated I was--there was no use in denying the fact, even though I realised already that the time would presently come when she would want me no more and there would remain no remedy for me but to go away and try to forget her.
But was I acting as a man of honour?
To this I felt I could fairly answer "yes," for I was but doing my duty, and could hardly act differently if I wished to.

Besides, I was jeopardising no one's happiness but my own, and a man may do as he pleases with his own happiness.

No; even Thorndyke could not accuse me of dishonourable conduct.
Presently my thoughts took a fresh turn and I began to reflect upon what I had heard concerning Mr.Hornby.Here was a startling development, indeed, and I wondered what difference it would make in Thorndyke's hypothesis of the crime.

What his theory was I had never been able to guess, but as I walked along through the thickening fog I tried to fit this new fact into our collection of data and determine its bearings and significance.
In this, for a time, I failed utterly.