Part 46 (1/2)
”No man can eat more than three square meals a day and be happy; no ht have I, or any other man for the ?”
”But some day you may wish to marry,” she put in
”Some day,--yes! maybe And the lady I marry must also love the open air, away frolories of a place such as this; otherwise, we should not agree for long
”And,--Mary,--” I continued, ”the man you would marry,--ould you demand of him?”
”The man I would marry may be a Merchant Prince or a hus only I would dereat loving heart; that he be honourable in all things and that his right ar to protect his own and ever ready to assist his weaker brother
”Marriages e, but they have to be lived on earth, and the one essential thing in every ht, then she threw out her hands as if to ward off a danger
”Of what use e, for me, with my foolish ideas, is impossible I am destined to remain as I am”
My pulse quickened as she spoke
”And why?” I asked;--for this evening of evenings was one for open hearts and tender feelings
”It was arranged for me that by this tih I did not love him, I meant to be a true and dutiful wife to him, even when I knew my eternal soul would be bruised in the effort
”This e Soain in you I ah, the similarity ends there
”For all his protestations of love for me, for all his boasted ideals, his anxiety for the preservation of his honour as a gentleman, he proved hiht to demand of the man she is about to marry, as he demands it of her
”I would not marry him then I could not I would sooner have died
”That wasto do my duty”
Her voice broke ”Sometimes, I wonder if any man is really true and honourable”
She covered her face with her hands; she, who had always been so self-possessed
”The shame of it! The shame of it!” she sobbed
In my heart, I cursed the dishonour of men Would the dreadful procession of it never cease? Deceit and dishonour! Dishonour and deceit! Here, there, everywhere,--and always the wooes free!
I moved over beside her in the stern of the boat I laid h, untutored ithout breaking into the agony of her thoughts, I tried to coe ofwe sat thus; but at last she turned to me and her hair brushed my cheek She looked into my eyes and I know she read as inover with a love for her that I had never known before, a love that overwhele!” she whispered softly, laying her hand upon mine, ”you must not, you hty once more