"But you will tell me the cure was made. I thought so, and therefore thought that I should find you changed. I thought that you, who had been all fire, would now have turned yourself into soft-flowing milk and honey, and have become fit for the life in store for you. With such a one I might have travelled from Moscow to Malta without danger. The woman fit to be John Grey's wife would certainly do me no harm,--could not touch my happiness. I might have loved her once,--might still love the memory of what she had been; but her, in her new form, after her new birth,--such a one as that, Alice, could be nothing to me. Don't mistake me. I have enough of wisdom in me to know how much better, ay, and happier a woman she might be. It was not that I thought you had descended in the scale; but I gave you credit for virtues which you have not acquired. Alice, that wholesome diet of which I spoke is not your diet. 
"You will tell me the cure was made, so I thought to find you changed. I thought that you, who had been all fire, would now have turned yourself into soft-flowing milk and honey. With such a one I might have travelled from Moscow to Malta without danger. The woman fit to be John Grey's wife would certainly do me no harm. I might have loved her once - but in her new form, she could be nothing to me. I am wise enough to know how much better and happier a woman she might be; it was not that I thought you had descended in the scale; but, Alice, you do not possess those virtues. That wholesome diet of milk and honey is not your diet. 