He took up a pebble, looked hard at it, and cast it from him.
"You mean that you can't love me?" he said, rather hoarsely.
Her silence gave assent.
He drew a long breath.
"I expected you to say that, but I thought I should persuade you to—try and trust yourself to me, and wait for the love to come." He paused a moment. "Miss Leslie, do you ever think of the future?"
"Of the future?" She turned her startled eyes on his face, grave almost to sternness.
"Yes. Forgive me if I speak plainly. You and your father are alone in the world."
"Yes, ah, yes!" dropped from her parted lips.
"And he—well, even now it is you who are the protector; some day—Leslie, it makes my heart ache to think of you alone in the world, alone and poor. I know that the little he has goes with him. Don't be angry! I am thinking only of you. I cannot help thinking of you and your future. If you would say 'yes,' if you would promise to be my wife, not only would your future be secure, but your present, his present, would be easier, happier; for your father's sake if not for your own——."