That power and authority Sidney Herbert possessed;
that fact was obvious, and the conclusions no less so: it was
through the man that the woman must work her will. She took hold
of him, taught him, shaped him, absorbed him, dominated him
through and through. He did not resist--he did not wish to
resist; his natural inclination lay along the same path as hers;
only that terrific personality swept him forward at her own
fierce pace and with her own relentless stride. Swept him--where
to? Ah! Why had he ever known Miss Nightingale? If Lord Panmure
was a bison, Sidney Herbert, no doubt, was a stag-- a comely,
gallant creature springing through the forest; but the forest is
a dangerous place. One has the image of those wide eyes
fascinated suddenly by something feline, something strong; there
is a pause; and then the tigress has her claws in the quivering
haunches; and then--!
Besides Sidney Herbert, she had other friends who, in a more
restricted sphere, were hardly less essential to her. If, in her
condition of bodily collapse, she were to accomplish what she was
determined that she should accomplish, the attentions and the
services of others would be absolutely indispensable. Helpers and
servers she must have; and accordingly there was soon formed
about her a little group of devoted disciples upon whose
affections and energies she could implicitly rely.
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