Yes! he was very tired of it
all. The men and women with whom he had up to this spent his time were
becoming abhorrent to him. The thought of the soft lips and glances that
had hitherto beguiled him, and lulled him into a state bordering upon
stupor, now filled him with shame. Love, that marvellous panacea, had
driven out the false, the impure visions of his heart, as surely and as
thoroughly as ever Hercules cleansed the Augean stables.
The blood of his race stirred with him; he would have liked to have
snatched Constance, and borne her away on his trusty steed, as his
forefathers would have done. But instead he must stand aside, and see
her married to another. Nay, he himself would be asked to attend the
wedding, perhaps even give her away to the man who was surely no more
worthy of her than Adrien himself.
Jasper Vermont had indeed done his work well. No sooner had he seen the
light of love shining in his friend's face, than he had set to work;
and, like the grim spider of evil he resembled, had filled Adrien's mind
with the suggestion that Constance loved--in fact, was secretly engaged
to, Lord Standon.
His reasons for this were twofold.
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