From Phase the Fourth, XXXIV |
. .Looking at her silently for a long time;
“She is a dear dear Tess,” he thought to himself, as one deciding on the
true construction of a difficult passage. “Do I realise solemnly enough
how utterly and irretrievably this little womanly thing is the creature
of my good or bad faith and fortune? I think not. I think I could not,
unless I were a woman myself. What am I in worldly estate, she is. What
I become, she must become. What I cannot be, she cannot be. And shall
I ever neglect her, or hurt her, or even forget to consider her? God forbid
such a crime!” |
Comment: |
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A patronising, and a little discouraging, aspect of her erstwhile true love. | |