The one purer feeling in that corrupt heart--his love for Romola--is
almost from the first tainted by the same selfishness. From the first he
recognises that his relation to her will give him a certain position in
the city; and he feels that with his ready tact and Greek suppleness this
is all that is needed to secure his further advancement. The vital
antagonism between his nature and hers bars the possibility of his
foreseeing how her truthfulness, nobleness, and purity shall become the
thorn in his ease-loving life.
In his earlier relations with Tessa, there is nothing more than seeking a
present and passing amusement, and the desire to sun himself in her
childish admiration and delight. He is as far as possible from the
intentional seducer and betrayer. But his accidental encounters with
her, cause him perplexity and annoyance; and at last it seems to him
safer for his own position, especially in regard to Romola, that she
should be secretly housed as she is, and taught to regard herself as his
wife. Soon there comes to be more of ease for him with the
bond-submissive child-mistress, than in the presence of the high-souled,
pure-hearted wife.
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