“Certainly, I will.”
“How soon?”
“To-morrow, if possible.”
“Thank you, dearie! I love Faith so truly that I have forgotten all the other women I ever knew. Their very names tire me now. I wonder at myself for ever thinking them at all pretty. I could hardly be civil to any of them if we met. I shall never care for any woman again, if I miss Faith.”
“You know, Dick, that you must marry someone. The family must be kept up. Is the trouble Faith’s lack of money?”
“No. It is her father and mother.”
“Her father is a scholar and fine preacher.”
“Yes, but her mother was a working girl, really a mill hand,” and then Dick told the story of Faith’s mother with enthusiasm. Kitty listened with interest, but answered, “I do not see what you are going to do, Dick. Not only mother, but Jane will storm at the degradation you intend to inflict upon the house of Annis.”
“There are two things I can do. I will marry Faith, and be happier than words can tell; or I will leave England forever.”
“Dick, you never can do that. Everything good forbids it—and there. Jane’s carriage is coming.”