"Did you not know it? Yes; he is very rich, and has a great firm, if that is the name for it. But he wanders incessantly, and his partners take care of his affairs. My father says that I shall marry him or end my days here."
"Unless you end his for him!" I cried, indignantly.
"Hush!" said she, and trembled violently. "He is my father, you know," she added, with sudden earnestness.
"But you cannot consent—" I began.
"Consent!" she interrupted with a bitter laugh. "I will die rather than consent."
"I mean, you cannot consent to be shut up in this valley for ever."
"If need be, I will," she said, in a low voice.
"There is no need," I whispered.
"You do not know my father. He is a man of iron," she answered, sorrowfully.
"You do not know my boy. He is a man of his word," I replied.