They were both too strong to
lead a life of petty quarrelling; if they ceased to live in
perfect harmony they were only too sure to come to open hostility.
There is nothing which will wound pride and raise anger so
inevitably as finding unexpected but determined opposition in
those who very closely resemble ourselves. In such a case a man
cannot fall back upon the comfortable alternative of despising his
enemy, since he has an intimate conviction that it would be
paramount to despising himself; and if he is led into a pitched
battle he will find his foe possessed of weapons which are exactly
like his own.
Giovanni and Corona were very evenly matched, as nearly resembling
each other as is possible for a man and a woman. Corona was
outwardly a little the colder, Giovanni a little the more
resentful of the two. Corona had learned during the years of her
marriage with Astrardente to wear a mask of serene indifference,
and the assumed habit had at last become in some degree a part of
her nature. Giovanni, whose first impulses had originally been
quicker than they now were, had learned the power of waiting by
constant intercourse with his father, whose fiery temper seemed to
snatch at trifles for the mere pleasure of tearing them to pieces,
and did injustice to the generous heart he concealed under his
rough exterior.
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