"Oh—I WISH you hadn't told me!" she exclaimed.
"Suppose I hadn't; suppose you had taken my advice? No"—he shook his head slowly—"I couldn't do that, Pauline—not even to win you."
"I'm sorry I said anything to you about it."
"You needn't be. You haven't harmed yourself. And maybe I can help you."
"No—we won't talk of it," she said—she was pressing her hand on her bosom where she could feel her wedding ring. "It wouldn't be right, now. I don't wish your advice."
"But I must give it. I'm years and years older than you—many, many years more than the six between us. And——"
"I don't wish to hear."
"For his sake, for your own sake, Pauline, tell them! And they'll surely help you to wait till you're older before you do anything—irrevocable."
"But I care for him," she said—angrily, though it could not have been what he was saying so gently that angered her. "You forget that I care for him. It IS irrevocable now. And I'm glad it is!"
"You LIKE him. You don't LOVE him. And—he's not worthy of your love. I'm sure it isn't prejudice that makes me say it. If he were, he'd have waited——"