"Pardon me, Mrs. Willoughby, I've had an age in which to think, and it's not a little affair to me. I did not quite understand myself when I last saw you—it was all so new, strange, and heavenly. But I understand myself now. Ella Bodine shall be my wife unless she finally rejects me, unless she herself makes me sure that it's of no use to try. What's more, it will take years to prove this. As long as she does not belong to another I'll never give up."
"She belongs to her father."
"No, not in this sense. She has the right of every American girl to choose her husband."
"Do you mean to defy her father?"
"No, I mean to go to him like a gentleman, and ask permission to pay my addresses to his daughter. I mean to do this before I say one word of love to her."
"Since you are so resolved upon your course you do not need any more advice from me."
"I don't mean that at all. Isn't this the right, honorable course?"
"Oh, your royalty wishes me to applaud your decrees and decisions," she said laughing.
"Now please don't be hard on me, Mrs. Willoughby. I've followed your advice with all my might for a week."
"Done nothing with all your might?"