He had never meant to speak of them publicly, simply to use his
knowledge as a means of influencing his cousin. He now doubted the
wisdom of this. Reacting from one mood to another, as usual, his
chief hope now was that some unexpected turn of fortune's wheel
would bring his opportunity. The one thing which all the past
unfitted him to accept was personal and final denial. His egotism
and impatience at being crossed began to manifest itself in another
direction, one suggested by Maynard's evident susceptibility to his
cousin's attractions. "Here is a chance," he thought, "of righting
myself in Lou's eyes. If this fellow, thrown into her society by the
fortune of war, not by courtesy, presumptuously goes beyond a
certain point in his attentions, Cousin Lou will find that no knight
of olden time would have fought for her quicker than I will. Mother
says she is one who must have her romance. She may have it with a
vengeance. It may open her eyes to the truth that a spirit like mine
brooks no opposition, and when she sees that I am ready to face
death for her she will admire, respect, and yield to a nature that
is haughty and like that of the old nobility.
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