Finn, that
a man should fear so much as some twist in his convictions arising
from a personal accident to himself. When we heard that the Devil
in his sickness wanted to be a monk, we never thought that he would
become a saint in glory. When a man who has been rejected by a lady
expresses a generally ill opinion of the sex, we are apt to ascribe
his opinions to disappointment rather than to judgment. A man
falls and breaks his leg at a fence, and cannot be induced to ride
again,--not because he thinks the amusement to be dangerous, but
because he cannot keep his mind from dwelling on the hardship that
has befallen himself. In all such cases self-consciousness gets the
better of the judgment."
"You think it will be so with me?"
"I shall think so if you now refuse--because of the misfortune which
befell you--that which I know you were most desirous of possessing
before that accident. To tell you the truth, Mr. Finn, I wish Mr.
Gresham had delayed his offer till the winter."
"And why?"
"Because by that time you will have recovered your health.
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