He Could Not Forget The Touch Of

He Had Tenderness In His Heart — ‘a Soft Place,’ As Nicholas Higgins Called It; But He Had Some Pride In Concealing It; He Kept It Very Sacred And Safe, And Was Jealous Of Every Circumstance That Tried To Gain Admission. But If He Dreaded Exposure Of His Tenderness, He Was Equally Desirous That All Men Should Recognize His Justice; And He Felt That He Had Been Unjust, In Giving So Scornful A Hearing To Anyone Who Had Waited, With Humble Patience, For Five Hours, To Speak To Him.

He Could Remember All About It Now; The Pitiful Figure He Must Have Cut; The Absurd Way In Which He Had Gone And Done The Very Thing He Had So Often Agreed With Himself In Thinking Would Be The Most Foolish Thing In The World; And Had Met With Exactly The Consequences Which, In These Wise Moods, He Had Always Foretold Were Certain To Follow, If He Ever Did Make Such A Fool Of Himself.

In The First Place, Cranford Is In Possession Of The Amazons; All The Holders Of Houses Above A Certain Rent Are Women. If A Married Couple Come To Settle In The Town, Somehow The Gentleman Disappears; He Is Either Fairly Frightened To Death By Being The Only Man In The Cranford Parties, Or He Is Accounted For By Being With His Regiment, His Hip, Or Closely Engaged In Business All The Week In The Great Neighbouring Commercial Town Of Drumble, Distant Only Twenty Miles On A Railroad. In Short, Whatever Does Become Of The Gentlemen, They Are Not At Cranford.

I Value My Own Independence So Highly That I Can Fancy No Degradation Greater Than That Of Having Another Man Perpetually Directing And Advising And Lecturing Me, Or Even Planning Too Closely In Any Way About My Actions. He Might Be The Wisest Of Men, Or The Most Powerful - I Should Equally Rebel And Resent His Interference.

I Am So Tired - So Tired Of Being Of Being Whirled On Through All These Phases Of My Life, In Which Nothing Abides By Me, No Creature, No Place; It Is Like The Circle In Which The Victims Of Earthly Passion Eddy Continually.