He hated himself for
his selfishness, and realised that a new phase of his life had begun
that day.
The impulses and impressions that beset him were only transitory and
not likely to affect his conduct. His fondness for Greif was such that
he would certainly rejoice honestly over his marriage and feel the most
genuine hopes for his happiness. The only trace the passing hour would
leave with him would be an unexpressed antipathy for Hilda. He knew, or
he thought that he knew, how easily his systematic habits of thought
could conquer such a tendency and reason it away into emptiness, and he
went downstairs to make the acquaintance of his brother's future wife
with the fullest determination to like her for Greif's sake, and never
again to submit to a frame of mind which was contemptible if it was not
utterly base. Could anything be more inconsistent than to let his joy
at the prospect of his brother's recovery be clouded, because the
result was not wholly due to himself? Could anything be more absurdly
foolish than to conceive a dislike for a woman whom Greif must marry to
be saved from ruin and shame?
CHAPTER XXI
Greif recovered quickly. In due time the celebrated physician departed
in great peace, hoping that chance might soon send such another case
into his way. Greif and Rex lived together in Greifenstein, and Hilda
and her mother were at Sigmundskron. But the distance between the two
places had grown very short of late, and scarcely a day passed on which
Hilda and Greif did not meet.
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