The Age of Innocence

far less gross and palpable. What could he and she really know of each other, since it was his duty, as a \"decent\" fellow, to conceal his past from her, and hers, as a marriageable girl, to have no past to conceal? What if, for some one of the subtler reasons that would tell with both of them, they should tire of each other, misunderstand or irritate each other? He reviewed his friends' marriages—the supposedly happy ones—and saw none that answered,


155 of 1313

far less gross and palpable. What could he and she really know of each other, since it was his duty, as a \"decent\" fellow, to conceal his past from her, and hers, as a marriageable girl, to have no past to conceal? What if, for some one of the subtler reasons that would tell with both of them, they should tire of each other, misunderstand or irritate each other? He reviewed his friends' marriages—the supposedly happy ones—and saw none that answered,


155 of 1313