The mystery of the feminine is bred into men from
earliest infancy, is intensified when passion comes and excites
the imagination into fantastic activity about women. No man, not
the most experienced, not the most depraved, is ever able wholly
to divest himself of this awe, except, occasionally, in the case
of some particular woman. Awe makes one ill at ease; the woman
who, by whatever means, is able to cure a man of his awe of her,
to make him feel free to be himself, is often able to hold him,
even though he despises her or is indifferent to her; on the other
hand, the woman who remains an object of awe to a man is certain
to lose him. He may be proud to have her as his wife, as the
mother of his children, but he will seek some other woman to give
her the place of intimacy in his life.
At the outset on an acquaintance between a man and a woman his awe
for her as the embodiment of the mystery feminine is of great
advantage to her; it often gets him for her as a husband. In this
particular case of Margaret Severence and Joshua Craig, while his
awe of her was an advantage, it was also a disadvantage. It
attracted him; it perilously repelled him.
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