It forced itself upon his obstinate incredulity that all those
conceptions of heroic love and faithfulness he had supposed to be so
clearly understood between them had vanished from her mind. She had
absolutely forgotten that twilight moment at the window which had
seemed to him the crowning instant, the real marriage of their
lives. It had gone, it had left no recoverable trace in her. And
upon his interpretations of that he had loved her passionately for a
year. She was back at exactly the ideas and intentions that ruled
her during their first settlement in London. She wanted a joint
life in the social world of London, she demanded his presence, his
attention, the daily practical evidences of love. It was all very
well for him to be away when the child was coming, but now
everything was different. Now he must stay by her.
This time he argued no case. These issues he had settled for ever.
Even an indignant dissertation from Lady Marayne, a dissertation
that began with appeals and ended in taunts, did not move him.
Behind these things now was India.
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