Casuistry and sophistical
reasoning with her own heart ensued, to the increase of her morbid
sensitiveness; she persuaded herself that greater insight into the
world's evil would be of aid in her struggle, and so the contents of
Waymark's first letter led her to a continuance of the
correspondence. A power of strong and gloomy description which she
showed in her letters, and which impressed Waymark, afforded the key
to her sufferings; her soul in reality was that of an artist, and,
whereas the artist should be free from everything like moral
prepossession, Maud's aesthetic sensibilities were in perpetual
conflict with her moral convictions. She could not understand
herself, seeing that her opportunities had never allowed her to
obtain an idea of the artistic character. This irrepressible delight
and interest in the active life of the world, what could it be but
the tendency to evil, most strongly developed? These heart-burnings
whenever she witnessed men and women rejoicing in the exercise of
their natural affections, what could that be but the proneness to
evil in its grossest form?
It was naturally a great surprise to Maud when she received the
letter from her aunt, which asked her not to continue her engagement
into the new quarter, giving as a reason merely that the writer
wished for her at home.
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