"I must ask you," he said, impetuously. "Oh, I beg your pardon, Phœbe! Aunt Leth enjoined upon me to be gentle with you, and here am I forgetting! But Phœbe, dear Phœbe, my Phœbe—consider! I implore you to consider! You gave me your heart, as I have given you mine. Have I done anything to forfeit your love?"
"Nothing," she said.
"Why, then, are you so strange to me? Why have you altered so?"
"I am not altered to you," she said.
"Then you love me still!" he cried.
"Will you listen to me?" she asked, "I have been trying to strengthen myself for this meeting, and you must not weaken me. No; do not kiss me! There is something that must be told—that you must hear!"
"I will listen to you, my darling—mine, and no other man's. You do not love another, Phœbe?"
"No, Fred." She was not aware that she had uttered the dear name.
"I am happy," he said. "Go on, my dear."
Then she told him of the oath her father had extracted from her that she would not marry without his consent, and said that, with that oath upon her conscience, she could not expect Fred to be bound to her.