"Dear, dearest brother."
"You are taking a part against me. You can be obstinate. I am not more likely to give a thing up than you are yourself."
"It is her health."
"Is she the first young woman that was ever married without being as strong as a milkmaid? Why should you take upon yourself to condemn her?"
"It is not I. It is Marion herself. You told me to go to her, and of course she spoke to me."
He paused a moment, and then in a hoarse, low voice asked a question. "What did she say to you when you spoke to her?"
"Oh, John!—I doubt I can hardly tell you what she said. But you know what she said. Did she not write and tell you that because of her health it cannot be as you would have it."
"And would you have me yield, because for my sake she is afraid? If George Roden were not strong would you throw him over and go away?"
"It is a hard matter to discuss, John."
"But it has to be discussed. It has at any rate to be thought of. I don't think that a woman has a right to take the matter into her own hands, and say that as a certainty God Almighty has condemned her to an early death. These things must be left to Providence, or Chance, or Fate, as you may call it."