"He will not lose his life, Mary."
"I hope not;—not if I can help it. I trust that he will be strong enough to get rid of his trouble,—to put it down and trample it under his feet." Clara, as she heard this, began to ask herself what it was that was to be trampled under Will's feet. "I think he will be man enough to overcome his passion; and then, perhaps,—you may regret what you have lost."
"Now you are unkind to me."
"Well; what would you have me say? Do I not know that he is offering you the best gift that he can give? Did I not begin by swearing to you that he loved you with a passion of love that cannot but be flattering to you? If it is to be love in vain, this to him is a great misfortune. And, yet, when I say that I hope that he will recover, you tell me that I am unkind."
"No;—not for that."
"May I tell him to come and plead for himself?"
Again Clara was silent, not knowing how to answer that last question. And when she did answer it, she answered it thoughtlessly. "Of course he knows that he can do that."
"He says that he has been forbidden."
"Oh, Mary, what am I to say to you? You know it all, and I wonder that you can continue to question me in this way."
"Know all what?"