IV
No man succeeds in everything he undertakes. In that sense we are all
failures. The great point is not to fail in ordering and sustaining the
effort of our life. In this matter vanity is what leads us astray. It
hurries us into situations from which we must come out damaged; whereas
pride is our safeguard, by the reserve it imposes on the choice of our
endeavour as much as by the virtue of its sustaining power.
General D'Hubert was proud and reserved. He had not been damaged by his
casual love affairs, successful or otherwise. In his war-scarred body
his heart at forty remained unscratched. Entering with reserve into his
sister's matrimonial plans, he had felt himself falling irremediably in
love as one falls off a roof. He was too proud to be frightened. Indeed,
the sensation was too delightful to be alarming.
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