"Every other woman I have ever been in love with," he told her once,
"I have always kept asking them would they ever change, and would
they love me always, and all that kind of nonsense. A man always
begins like that, and then the time comes when he wishes to God they
would change, and they won't. But you're not like that, Maggie, I
know you'll never change, and I know that I shall never want you
to." "No, I shall never change," said Maggie.
At the very beginning of the three weeks a little incident occurred
that was trivial enough at the time, but appeared afterwards as
something significant and full of meaning. This incident was a
little talk with poor Mr. Magnus. Maggie always thought of him as
"poor Mr. Magnus." He seemed so feckless and unsettled, and then he
wrote novels that nobody wanted to buy. He always talked like a
book, and that was perhaps one reason why Maggie had avoided him
during these last months. Another reason had been that she really
could not be sure how far he was in the general conspiracy to drive
her into the Chapel. He would not do that of his own will she was
sure, but being in love with Aunt Anne he might think it his sacred
duty, and Maggie was terrified of "sacred duties.
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