He would not say to her
what he had meant to say until she knew the truth about her own
circumstances. In simple words, she being rich and he having only
what he earned by his daily work, Sidney did not think it right to
speak whilst she was still in ignorance. The delicacy of her
instincts, and the sympathies awakened by her affection, made this
perfectly clear to her, strange and difficult to grasp as the
situation was at first. When she understood, how her soul laughed
with exulting merriment! Consecration to a great idea, endowment
with the means of wide beneficence--this not only left her cold,
but weighed upon her, afflicted her beyond her strength. What was
it, in truth, that restored her to herself and made her heart beat
joyously? Knit your brows against her; shake your head and raze her
name from that catalogue of saints whereon you have inscribed it in
anticipation. Jane rejoiced simply because she loved a poor man, and
had riches that she could lay at his feet.
Great sums of money, vague and disturbing to her imagination when
she was bidden hold them in trust for unknown people, gleamed and
made music now that she could think of them as a gift of love.
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