Then she sat down, and he came and seated himself opposite to her; opposite her, but not so close as to give him any of the advantages of a lover.
"Margaret, I don't know whether you have guessed the subject on which I wish to speak to you; but I wish you had."
"Is it about the money?" she asked.
"The money! What money? The money you have lent to your brother? Oh, no."
Then, at that moment, Margaret did, I think, guess.
"It's not at all about the money," he said, and then he sighed.
He had at one time thought of asking his mother to make the proposition for him, and now he wished that he had done so.
"No, Margaret, it's something else that I want to say. I believe you know my condition in life pretty accurately."
"In what way, John?"
"I am a poor man; considering my large family, a very poor man. I have between eight and nine hundred a year, and when my father and mother are both gone I shall have nearly as much more; but I have nine children, and as I must keep up something of a position, I have a hard time of it sometimes, I can tell you."