An Ambitious Man

There are two things regarding which the world at large never asks

any questions--namely, How a rich man made his money, and how an

erring woman came to fall. It is enough for the world to know that

he is rich--that fact alone opens all doors to him, as the fact that

the woman has erred closes them to her.

There was a common vulgar creature in Beryngford, whose many amours

and bold defiance of law and order rendered her name a synonym for

indecency. This woman had begun her career in early girlhood as a

mercenary intriguer; and yet Joy Irving knew that the majority of

people would make small distinctions between the conduct of this

creature and that of her mother, were the facts of Berene's life and

her own birth to be made public.

The fear that the story would follow her wherever she went became an

absolute dread with her, and caused her to live alone and without

companions, in the midst of people who would gladly have become her

warm friends, had she permitted.

Her book of "Impressions" reflected the changes which had taken place

in the complexion of her mind during these years. Among its entries

were the following:-

People talk about following a divine law of love, when they wish to

excuse their brute impulses and break social and civil codes.

No love is sanctioned by God, which shatters human hearts.

Fathers are only distantly related to their children; love for the

male parent is a matter of education.

The devil macadamises all his pavements.

A natural child has no place in an unnatural world.

When we cannot respect our parents, it is difficult to keep our ideal

of God.

Love is a mushroom, and lust is its poisonous counterpart.

It is a pity that people who despise civilisation should be so

uncivil as to stay in it. There is always darkest Africa.

The extent of a man's gallantry depends on the goal. He follows the

good woman to the borders of Paradise and leaves her with a polite

bow; but he follows the bad woman to the depths of hell.

It is easy to trust in God until he permits us to suffer. The

dentist seems a skilled benefactor to mankind when we look at his

sign from the street. When we sit in his chair he seems a brute,

armed with devil's implements.

An anonymous letter is the bastard of a diseased mind.

An envious woman is a spark from Purgatory.

The consciousness that we have anything to hide from the world

stretches a veil between our souls and heaven. We cannot reach up to

meet the gaze of God, when we are afraid to meet the eyes of men.