that I had failed to do so was proof of my poor character. Never mind my conspicuous lack of that vital, native spark for magecraft, rendering such studies as I had undertaken three times as laborious and twice as risky as was so for a natural talent; never mind, too, that the smatter of charms I did know was still more than many without that skill could boast. I was too angry to be rational and too miserable to be kind to myself,
