She declared, indeed, that that was not an obstacle—that she looked up to him as she could to no other man—that he was the noblest being who had ever crossed her path of life, and that she could never, never forget him. Mr. Holdfast urged her then to explain to him in plain terms the precise nature of her objections.
“I can make you happy,” he said.
“You could make any woman happy,” she replied.
“And I should be the happiest man—you would make me so.”
“I would try,” she replied, softly.
“Then tell me why you raise cruel obstacles in the way of our happiness. I will marry you by force if you are not candid with me.”
“You know nothing of my family,” she said; “my parents are dead, and the few relatives I have I would not allow to darken the threshold of your door.”
“Nor shall they. You shall be the mistress and the master of my house, and I will be your slave.”
“For shame to talk in that way to a foolish girl like me—to a girl who is almost nameless, and who has not a shilling to her fortune!”