"I suppose you mean something."
"I mean a great deal, dear. I mean all that a man can mean. That is it. You hardly understand that I am serious to the extent of ecstatic joy on the one side, and utter indifference to the world on the other. I shall never give it up till I learn that you are to be married to some one else."
"What can I say, Mr. Carbury?"
"That you will love me."
"But if I don't?"
"Say that you will try."
"No; I will not say that. Love should come without a struggle. I don't know how one person is to try to love another in that way. I like you very much; but being married is such a terrible thing."
"It would not be terrible to me, dear."
"Yes;—when you found that I was too young for your tastes."
"I shall persevere, you know. Will you assure me of this,—that if you promise your hand to another man, you will let me know at once?"