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Gissing, George, 1857-1903

"The Unclassed"

That was only for a moment, however. The more she
accustomed herself to the thought, the easier it seemed to be to
bury the past in forgiveness. Harriet must have changed so much
since those days. Possibly there would never be a mention between
them of the old trouble; practically they would be new
acquaintances, and would be very little helped to an understanding
of each other by the recollections of childhood. And then Ida felt
there was so much to be glad of in the new prospects. She longed for
a world more substantial than that of her own imaginations, and
here, as she thought, it would be opened to her. Above all, by
introducing her to his friends, Waymark had strengthened the
relations between her and himself. He was giving her, too, a chance
of showing herself to him in a new light. For the first time he
would see her under the ordinary conditions of a woman's life in a
home circle Ida had passed from one extreme to the other. At present
there was nothing she desired so much as the simple, conventional,
every-day existence of the woman who has never swerved from the
beaten track. She never saw a family group anywhere without envying
the happiness which to her seemed involved in the mere fact of a
home and relations.


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