FRICTIONS
His eyes had been opened. He realised the perversity of the world, but
he lacked the power to penetrate the darkness and discover the cause
of this perversity; therefore he gave himself up to despair, a
disillusioned man. Then he fell in love with a girl who married
somebody else. He complained of her conduct to his friends, male and
female, but they only laughed at him. For a little while longer he trod
his solitary path alone and misunderstood. He belonged to "society,"
and joined in its pursuits, because it distracted him; but at the bottom
of his heart he had nothing but contempt for its amusements, which he
took no pains to conceal.
One evening he was present at a ball. He danced with a young woman of
unusual beauty and animation. When the band ceased playing, he remained
standing by her side. He knew he ought to talk to her but he did not
know what to say. After a while the girl broke the silence.
"You are fond of dancing, Baron?" she said with a cold, smile.
"Oh no! not at all," he answered. "Are you?"
"I can't imagine anything more foolish," she replied.
He had met his man, or rather his woman.
"Why do you dance, then?" he asked.
"For the same reason that you do.
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