Page:The Tsar's Window.djvu/258

 him the fact plainly. Yet he is not a calm, placid lover, like the Englishman. Mr. Thurber has an air of saying mentally, "If you conclude to marry me, you will make a sensible decision, and will please me extremely; but if you decide otherwise, I shall wonder how you could be so foolish. I do not allow myself, in the mean time, to get excited over it; and whatever you may say or do will suit me perfectly."

These are his thoughts as I imagine them. He refuses to be jealous or angry. I cannot arouse in him the expression of anything beyond a proper, reasonable liking. George, on the contrary, although he tells me fiercely enough that he knows I do not care for him, is uneasy and wretched if I talk long with any one else, and watches me continually. He gets in a passion with me, and then says he loves me too much to be angry. My sober judgment tells me that Chilton Thurber is much better suited to me.

My life is not as peaceful as it was before I had two lovers, and I fear I am growing inordinately vain. Judith must have an immense amount of character not to be completely spoiled by the amount of attention she has received.