“In very—very deed.”
“Well, I do not understand it. By what Jervis told me, I presumed it was a settled thing.”
“The Colonel was mistaken. There is nothing settled or unsettled.”
“And do you, really, not like him?”
“I really do like him, Adèle, as a very pleasant companion for an hour or two, and as a very perfect gentleman.”
“Yes, he told me all that. But, if you like him so well, why not like him better? Why not love him?”
“I will be plain and true with you, Adèle. I do not choose to consider at all, whether I could or could not, love him. He has never asked me, has never spoken of love to me; and putting it out of the question that it is unmaidenly to love unasked, I am sure it is unwise.”
“I understand, I understand. But he will ask you, that is certain; and, when he does ask, what shall you say?”
“It will be time enough to consider when that time shall come.”
“Another way of saying, ‘I shall say yes!’ But come, Valerie, you must promise me that if you need my assistance, you will call upon me for it. You know that anything I can do for you will be done without a thought but how I best may serve you; and Jervis will do likewise, since he, as I do, considers that under Heaven, we owe our happiness to you.”