I was conscious of irritation at the calm conviction of his tone.
"Do you take me for such a callous creature as all that?" I exclaimed—" You are mistaken in me, Lucio. I feel most keenly"
"What do you feel?" he inquired, fixing his eyes steadily upon me—"There are hundreds of starving wretches in this metropolis,—men and women on the brink of suicide because they have no hope of anything in this world or the next, and no sympathy from their kind—do you feel for them? Do their griefs affect you? You know they do not,—you know you never think of them,—why should you? One of the chief advantages of wealth is the ability it gives us to shut out other people's miseries from our personal consideration."
I said nothing,—for the first time my spirit chafed at the truth of his words, principall
