Now and then Mary tried to turn Tom's attention a little toward
the duty of religion: Tom received the attempt with gentle
amusement and a little _badinage_. It was all very well for
girls! Indeed, he had made the observation that girls who had no
religion were "strong-minded," and that he could not endure! Like
most men, he was so well satisfied with himself, that he saw no
occasion to take trouble to be anything better than he was. Never
suspecting what a noble creature he was meant to be, he never saw
what a poor creature he was. In his own eyes he was a man any
girl might be proud to marry. He had not yet, however, sunk to
the depth of those who, having caught a glimpse of nobility,
confess wretchedness, excuse it, and decline to allow that the
noble they see they are bound to be; or, worse still, perhaps,
admit the obligation, but move no inch to fulfill it. It seems to
me that such must one day make acquaintance with _essential_
misery--a thing of which they have no conception.
Day after day Tom passed through Turnbull and Marston's shop to
see Letty. Tom cared for nobody, else he would have gone in by
the kitchen-door, which was the only other entrance to the house;
but I do not know whether it is a pity or not she took pains to
let her precious public know that she went to London to make her
purchases. If she did not mention also that she made them at the
warehouses where her husband was a customer, procuring them at
the same price he would have paid, it was because she saw no
occasion.
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