"Do you mean to say that you will pursue this suit contrary to my wishes?"
"Certainly. There is no law, human or divine, which forbids a man from loving a good woman, and Miss Bodine is good if any one is."
"How do you propose to carry on this suit?" the captain asked sternly.
"I scarcely know yet, but in no underhand way. I must ask you to inform
Miss Bodine of this interview."
"Suppose I decline to do this?"
"Then I shall make it known to her myself."
"In other words, you defy me."
"Not at all, not in the sense in which you speak. I shall take no action whatever without your knowledge."
"You must remember that my daughter is not of age."
"I do not dispute your right in the least to control her action till she is, but I shall not take the risk of losing her by timidity and delay. Others will appreciate her worth as well as myself. I wish her to know that I love her, and would make her my wife."