She may have learned from him
only hypocrisy.
"Then also, how did I know that Juliana's merry childishness would not
ripen into sweet, cheerful womanliness? Her father, for all I knew to
the contrary, might be the model of what a retired sea-captain should be;
with possibly a snug little sum safely invested somewhere. And Juliana
was his only child. What reason had I for rejecting this fair young
creature's love for Josiah?
"I took her photo from my desk. I seemed to detect a reproachful look in
the big eyes. I saw before me the scene in the little far-away home when
the first tidings of Josiah's marriage fell like a cruel stone into the
hitherto placid waters of her life. I saw her kneeling by her father's
chair, while the white-haired, bronzed old man gently stroked the golden
head, shaking with silent sobs against his breast. My remorse was almost
more than I could bear.
"I put her aside and took up Hannah--my chosen one. She seemed to be
regarding me with a smile of heartless triumph. There began to take
possession of me a feeling of positive dislike to Hannah.
"I fought against the feeling. I told myself it was prejudice. But the
more I reasoned against it the stronger it became. I could tell that, as
the days went by, it would grow from dislike to loathing, from loathing
to hate.
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