the buffington affair was misbegotten from the start and it eventually came to be regretted by all involved , on a personal and business level , eventually ( it bears repeating ) but blaise thought he was successfully living two lives and was oblivious to the increasing estrangement of carmelita , who with a womans sense had already started to see past that the first great blush of romance and toward the second thing , except with blaise she saw no second thing .