She said she was done with him
forever, and well done; her own answer to herself there was, that
while she was probably the better off for having got out of the
engagement, still it must be conceded that socially the manner of
her getting out meant scandal, gossip, laughter at her. Her cheeks
burned as her soul flamed.
"The vulgar boor!" she muttered.
Was ever woman so disgraced, and so unjustly? What had the gods
against her, that they had thus abased her? How Washington would
jeer! How her friends would sneer! What hope was there now of her
ever getting a husband? She would be an object of pity and of
scorn. It would take more courage than any of the men of her set
had, to marry a woman rejected by such a creature--and in such
circumstances!
"He has made everybody think I sought him. Now, he'll tell
everybody that he had to break it off--that HE broke it off!"
She ground her teeth; she clenched her hands; she wept and moaned
in the loneliness of her bed. She hated Craig; she hated the whole
world; she loathed herself. And all the time she had to keep up
appearances--for she had not dared tell her grandmother--had to
listen while the old lady discussed the marriage as an event of
the not remote future.
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