But circumstances had so fallen out with him, that as he won his
spurs in Parliament, as he became known, and was placed first in one
office and then in another, prospects of love and money together were
opened to him, and he ventured on, leaving Mr. Low and the law behind
him,--because these prospects were so alluring. Then had come Mr.
Monk and Mary Flood Jones,--and everything around him had collapsed.
Everything around him had collapsed,--with, however, a terrible
temptation to him to inflate his sails again, at the cost of his
truth and his honour. The temptation would have affected him
not at all, had Madame Goesler been ugly, stupid, or personally
disagreeable. But she was, he thought, the most beautiful woman
he had ever seen, the most witty, and in many respects the most
charming. She had offered to give him everything that she had, so to
place him in the world that opposition would be more pleasant to him
than office, to supply every want, and had done so in a manner that
had gratified all his vanity. But he had refused it all, because he
was bound to the girl at Floodborough. My readers will probably say
that he was not a true man unless he could do this without a regret.
When Phineas thought of it all, there were many regrets.
Pages:
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039