Conward's presence in the Hardy home was a more serious
matter. He knew Conward well enough to know that purpose always lay
behind his conduct, and during the small talk with which they whiled
away an hour his mind was reaching out acutely, exploring every nook of
possibility, to arrive, if it could, at some explanation of the sudden
interest which Conward was displaying in the Hardys. These
explanations narrowed down to two almost equally unpalatable. Conward
was deliberately setting about to capture the friendship, perhaps the
affection, of either Mrs. Hardy or Irene. Strangely enough, Elden was
more irritated by the former alternative than by the latter. He felt
that if Conward's purposes were directed towards Irene that was at
least fair warfare; he could not bring himself to think similarly of a
suit that involved Mrs. Hardy. Perhaps this attitude was due to
subconscious recognition of the fact that he had much more to fear from
Conward as a suitor for the hand of Mrs. Hardy than as a rival for that
of Irene. On the latter score he had no misgivings; he was confident
of his ability to worst any adversary in that field, and competition
would lend a piquancy to his courtship not altogether without
advantages; but he had no such confidence in the case of an assault
upon the heart of the elder woman. He could not become Conward's rival
in such a case, and, repugnant as the idea was to him, he felt no
assurance that such a match might not develop.
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