He felt that same sensation now, as he watched Margaret from a
distance; some one would find her, some one would marry her, some one
would take her away and own her, body and soul, and cheat him of what
had been within his grasp and all but his; and yet he was ashamed,
because he no longer wanted her for his wife, but only as a
possession--as Achilles wanted Briseis and was wroth when she was taken
from him. He felt shame at the thought, because he had already honoured
her in his imagination as his wife, and because to dream of her as
anything as near, yet less in honour, was a sort of dishonour to
himself. Let the subtle analyst make what he can of that; it is the
truth. But possibly the truth about a man very unlike his fellow-men is
not worth analysing, since it cannot lead to any useful generality; and
if analysis is not to be useful, of what use can it possibly be? It
would be more to the purpose to analyse the character of Margaret, for
instance, who represents a certain class of artists, or of Madame
Bonanni who is an arch-type, or of poor Edmund Lushington, a literary
Englishman, who was just then very unhappy and very sorry for himself.
Margaret and Lushington, and the elderly prima donna, and even Mrs.
Rushmore, are all much more like you and me than Constantine Logotheti,
the Greek financier of artistic tastes, watching the woman he covets,
from the depths of his lower box during rehearsal.
He watched, and he coveted; and presently he fell to thinking of the
wonderful things which money can do, when it is skilfully used; and he
fell to scheming and plotting, and laying deep plans; and moreover he
recalled the days when Margaret had first appeared to him as an
animated work of art, and he remembered why he had persuaded
Schreiermeyer to change the opera from Faust to Rigoletto. He had
regretted the change later, when she had risen to the higher place in
his heart, because it required her to wear a man's disguise in the last
act; but now that she was again in his eyes what she had been at first,
he was glad he had made the suggestion, and that the manager had taken
his advice, for there was something in that last act which should serve
him when the time came.