Maggie might not know it, but it was
so-and Grace knew it very well.
It may be said, however, in Grace's defence that she gave Maggie
every chance. She marvelled at her own patience. For two years after
that moment, when she decided that Maggie was "queer," and that her
beloved Paul was in real danger of his losing his soul because of
that "queerness," she held her hand. She was not naturally a patient
woman-she was not introspective enough to be that--and she held no
brief for Maggie. Nevertheless for two whole years she held her hand
. . .
They were, all three, in that ugly house, figures moving in the
dark. Grace simply knew, as the months passed, that she disliked and
feared Maggie more and more; Paul knew that as the months passed-
well, what he knew will appear in the following pages. And Maggie?
She only knew that it needed all her endurance and stubborn will to
force herself to accept this life as her life. She must-she must. To
give way meant to run away, and to run away meant to long for what
she could not have, and loneliness and defeat. She would make this
into a success; she would care for Paul although she could not give
him all that he needed.
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