'I love her,--I love her madly, in spite of myself,' said Rodney,
pouring forth his words with feverish rapidity. 'I know it is an
infatuation, I know it is utterly unreasonable, and yet--I love her. I
have striven against it, I have fought with myself, I have written out
elaborate arguments wherein I have clearly demonstrated the folly of
such an affection, and I have compelled myself to read them over
slowly, word for word, when alone in my room, and yet--I love her!
Ignorant, I know she would shame me; shallow, I know she could not
satisfy me; as a wife she would inevitably drag me down to misery, and
yet--I love her! I had not been on the island a week before I saw her,
and marked her beauty. Months before you invited her to the fort I had
become infatuated with her angular loveliness; but, in some respects,
a race of the blood-royal could not be prouder than these French
fishermen. They will accept your money, they will cheat you, they will
tell you lies for an extra shilling; but make one step toward a simple
acquaintance, and the door will be shut in your face. They will bow
down before you as a customer, but they will not have you for a
friend. Thus I found it impossible to reach Jeannette. I do not say
that I tried, for all the time I was fighting myself; but I went far
enough to see the barriers. It seemed a fatality that you should take
a fancy to her, have her here, and ask me to admire her,--admire the
face that haunted me by day and by night, driving me mad with its
beauty.

'I realized my danger, and called to my aid all the pride of my race.
I said to my heart, 'You shall not love this ignorant half-breed to
your ruin.' I reasoned with myself, and said, 'It is only because you
are isolated on this far-away island. Could you present this girl to
your mother? Could she be a companion for your sisters? I was
beginning to gain a firmer control over myself, in spite of her