" And then Ideala forgot
her listener, and burst out with one of those curious flashes of
insight, irrespective of all knowledge, to which she was subject: "If I
were only a soul to be saved, he would save me; but I am also a body to
be loved, and whether he loves me or not, he suffers. It is the eternal
conflict of mind and matter, spirit and flesh, two prisoners chained
together--the one despising the other, yet ruled by him, and
subservient to the needs of his lower nature."
The lady stared at her.
"You know Mr. Lorrimer very well, then, I suppose?" she remarked.
"Let me see," said Ideala, awaking from her trance, "that is a question
I often ask myself. And sometimes I say I _do_ know him very well,
and sometimes I say I don't. I go to the Great Hospital frequently to
read, and to look up information, and he helps me. He is a man who
makes an instant impression, but he is many-sided, and, now you ask me,
I think on the whole that I do not know him well. I should not be
surprised to hear any number of the most contradictory things about
him."
"It is not a nice character to have," the lady said.
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