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on 15 November 1863. However, as Wright suggested, "Hart's appointment as full Inspector-General was a foregone conclusion." (1950: 258) As early as June 11, 1863 a high-ranking Chinese official, Wen Xiang, gave Hart to understand that he would be the best candidate to replace Lay if he left (Wang, 2000: 63).
Hart took the position of I.G. very seriously and he was a man with great ambitions for power and honour. From his diaries, we know that between early summer 1863 and August 1864 he struggled desperately with his natural desire for womanising. This coincides directly with the period during which he prepared himself for and was finally appointed to the post of I.G. His expressions, such as "They set my blood on fire", "desperate struggle", "This war of passion and principle is horrible”, and “I am mad upon the pleasure of the couch”, indicate that Hart's battle with his desire to womanise was a constant struggle. He even went so far as to say "were I always to remain in China, I might do as the Chinese do - for though socially I consider polygamy inexpedient in the west, I do not think it inexpedient in China, nor do I consider it morally wrong in itself." (Smith, Fairbank, Bruner 1991:179) Although mention of his romantic chatting and pressing of hands with the girls next door is no longer present in his diaries after August 1864, it does not necessarily mean that he had finally won the battle. He still laments female intimacy and cannot stop dreaming of how happy his life would be if he could have a girl in the room with him:
O Woman, lovely woman! And yet it is sexual desire - it is, I fear, more brute passion, than desire for the society of women. I like to have a girl in the room with me, to fondle when I please: and I like to have something to be affectionate with, for I have got a great stock of love in my nature. (ibid)
He chides himself constantly: "If I don't care, passion will be off with me - confound it!" (ibid: 180) It is obvious that during August 1864 Hart was not emotionally settled although he was determined not to go back to his old womanising ways. In this situation, the possibility that he resumed his sexual relationship with Ayaou, even occasionally, should not be ruled out, especially given the fact that their third child, Arthur, was born sometime after June 5th in 1865. Although Hart forced himself to terminate his intimate relationship with Ayaou when pursuing the position of I.G. during the period 1863 and 1864, he never disliked