II-VII

The memory of Meta Beggs was woven like a
bright thread through the monotonous texture
of the days which immediately followed.
She was never entirely out of his thoughts;
she stirred him out of all proportion to any assignable
cause; she irritated him. He remembered that
she said she made men "mad." He recalled how
ridiculous he had felt as he had said, "Good night."
He wished to repay her for that injury to his self-esteem.

At the same time, curiously, he was more patient
with Lettice, he had a more ready sympathy for her
intangible fancies. Perhaps for the first time he
enjoyed sitting quietly on the porch of his house
with her and General Jackson. He sat answering
her endless queries, fears, assenting half-absently
to her projections, with the thought of Meta Beggs
at the back of his mind. He wanted to be as nice
as possible to Lettice. Suddenly she seemed a little
removed from him, from the world in general, the
world of the emotions and ideas that centered about
the school-teacher.

[[182]]

p181 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p182w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p183

v?