Page:In a winter city, by Ouida.djvu/275

 caprices, of her changefulness, of her moods of contempt, and of impatience, he had no fear; he would substitute other emotions for them. And yet he hesitated; he was unresolved; he was doubtful whether to accept the empire he had obtained.

He would have concluded a marriage of interest as coldly and tranquilly as any other man with a woman to whom he was indifferent. But with this woman whose mere touch thrilled him to the heart, and whose imperious eyes had only grown gentle for his sake!—never had he felt his poverty so painfully as in this moment when supreme Fortune seemed to have smiled upon him.

Though he loved her with passion, he almost wished that he had never seen her face.

After all, though generous, she was arrogant;—sooner or later she might make him feel that the golden sceptre was hers and not his. To his temper, which, although gentle, was deeply in- grained with the pride which had been transmitted to him from many generations of a feudal nobility, such a possibility seemed unendurable. He sat