Ormond by Charles Brockden Brown

When time had somewhat mitigated the memory of the late disaster, the intercourse between Ormond and Constance was renewed. The lady did not overlook her obligations to her friend: It was to him that she was indebted for her father's restoration to sight, and to whom both owed, essentially, though indirectly, their present affluence. In her mind, gratitude was no perverse or ignoble principle. She viewed this man as the authour of extensive benefits, of which her situation enabled her to judge with more accuracy than others. It created no bias on her judgment, or, at least, none of which she was sensible. Her equity was perfectly unfettered, and she decided in a way contrary to his inclination, with as little scruple as if the benefits had been received, not by herself, but by him. She, indeed, intended his benefit, though she thwarted his inclinations.

She had few visitants beside himself. Their interviews were daily and unformal. The fate of Hellen never produced any reproaches on her part. She saw the uselessness of recrimination, not only because she desired to produce emotions different from those which invective is adapted to excite, but because it was more just to soothe than to exasperate, the inquietudes which haunted him.