Read "Miss Cheyne of Essilmont, Volume 2" by James Grant online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Prior to that affair in the conservatory, Bella had been to him all that a man had a right to expect -- that is, a man who had not definitely declared himself; now that he had done so, she had thrown him completely over.
'What strong running I might make with her beyond a doubt, but for those accursed mortgages! ' said Jerry to Bevil Goring, as they lounged in the smoking-room. 'She thinks I do not want her for herself, but to rid me of these, and values my love accordingly -- despises me, in short,' added Jerry, bitterly, 'and I am without the means of undeceiving her.'