"Yes," she continued, "that was true—that is true. It is all I can do; but I can do it, I have done it, I shall continue to do it! Mr. Camran, I esteem you beyond the power of language to express. Your kindness, your consideration, your generosity have affected me wonderfully. Some day you will know to what extent. But there can be no relation between us nearer than the one we now occupy. Never, never, never!"
She had covered every point, but like suitors the world over I would not believe her.
"Answer me a few questions," I said. "Yes, in justice to my proposal, which I cannot but feel does honor to both of us. Do you mean to say that your final declination of my offer is based on the fact that I read your private correspondence?"
"No, it would have been the same without that," she answered. "Let me add that I forgive you freely for what you did in that respect."
"Is it because—I want to understand perfectly—you think it dishonorable to wed a man richer than you, whose acquaintance you made in an unusual way?"
She shook her head in negation.
"Is there, then, anything that you have heard, or suspect, against my reputation?"
Again she shook her head decidedly.
I took up her letter and read:
If I were of his social grade—if I could have retained the position in which I was born, he would be my ideal. Such thoughts, alas! are not for your poor friend, Marjorie.