The very fact that he resented the way in which he had been treated by Madge made him think of her, although admitting to himself that it might all turn out for the best.

He would have soon accepted changes in externals, and her added accomplishments, but there were other and more subtle changes which he could not grasp.

It began to pique him that he had already been forced to abandon more than one impression in regard to her character.

It was somewhat humiliating that he, who had seen the world, especially in its social aspects, should be perplexed by a young girl scarcely twenty, and that this girl of all others should be little Madge.

He had intimated that she had become imbued with sentimentality and aspirations after ideals, and was hoping to meet a male embodiment of these traits, which he regarded as prominently lackadaisical.