I've travelled much. I've organized great business
developments. You might think that my time has been fairly well
filled without much philandering. And all the time, all the time, I've
been--about women--like a thirsty beast looking for water.... Always.
Always. All through my life."
Dr. Martineau waited through another silence.
"I was very grave about it at first. I married young. I married very
simply and purely. I was not one of those young men who sow a large crop
of wild oats. I was a fairly decent youth. It suddenly appeared to me
that a certain smiling and dainty girl could make herself into all the
goddesses of my dreams. I had but to win her and this miracle would
occur. Of course I forget now the exact things I thought and felt then,
but surely I had some such persuasion. Or why should I have married her?
My wife was seven years younger than myself,--a girl of twenty. She
was charming. She is charming. She is a wonderfully intelligent and
understanding woman. She has made a home for me--a delightful home. I am
one of those men who have no instinct for home making. I owe my home and
all the comfort and dignity of my life to her ability. I have no excuse
for any misbehaviour--so far as she is concerned. None at all. By
all the rules I should have been completely happy.
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