“I suppose,” he went on, “that you were something too big for me to grasp, especially as I was eaten up with my own conceit.”
He added quickly as I would have spoken,
“No, that is the truth. I had begun to think of myself as irresistible. That was why, Samantha, I could not understand that your principles could mean more than the fact that I wanted you.
“Put into words, that sounds ghastly, doesn’t it? But it’s the truth. Because I knew that you loved me, that you belonged to me in a way that no one else ever had, it gave me a sense of power.
“I imagine all men have a cruel streak in them somewhere. It was that streak, combined with my desire to show my authority over you, that made me continually strike away the radiance I saw in your face with a harsh word.
“Your eyes are very sensi
