“That remains to be seen. Let me prove to you that I am not merely the dilettante that you see on the surface. If I have not cared to succeed before, perhaps it was because there was nothing or no one to work for. If I show you that I really have those qualities that you demand and think I lack, will you let me tell you again that I love you?”
“What could you do to show that?” asked Jacqueline softly.
“I could go back to New York to-morrow. I could join my father in business.”
“To New York to-morrow!” she said in dismay.
“Yes,” I cried joyously. I had caught the note of dismay.
“But I dare not advise you to do that. I could not take that responsibility unless I loved you. I do not love you. But if you are not fitted for business, you would surely fail.”
“Would you discourage me in the attempt to do what you have condemned me for not doing?” I asked with impatience.
“It may be that here in Venice is a task.”
“In Venice? Impossible.”
“You told me the other day that you had once thought of writing up the legends of Venice. You said they had really never been done well. Why not attempt that?”