He drew on the reluctant Etonian, who looked repiningly back at the increasing distance between him and the other pair, till a turn in the path cut off his view.
“I am afraid you do not know what you have undertaken,” said Norman.
“I am a capital walker. And I know, or do not know, how often Ethel takes the same walk.”
“Ethel is no rule.”
“She ought to be,” said Meta. “To be like her has always been my ambition.”
“Circumstances have formed Ethel.”
“Circumstances! What an ambiguous word! Either Providence pointing to duty, or the world drawing us from it.”
“Stepping-stones, or stumbling-blocks.”
“And, oh! the difficult question, when to bend them, or to bend to them!”
“There must be always some guiding,” said Norman.