Harvey thought more than he was disposed to say. He marvelled at her sudden enthusiasm for an ideal he had not imagined her capable of pursuing. If he only now saw into the girl's true character, revealed by the awakening of her emotions, how nobly was his ardour justified! All but despising himself for loving her, he had instinctively chosen the one woman whose heart and mind could inspire him to a life above his own. 'I should think it a dream,' he answered, 'if I didn't hear it from your lips.'
'But it is so easy! We keep all the best things, and throw off only the worthless—the things that waste time and hurt the mind. No crowded rooms, no wearying artificial talk, no worry with a swarm of servants, no dressing and fussing. The whole day to one's self, for work and pleasure. A small house—just large enough for order and quietness, and to keep a room for the friend who comes. How many people would like such a life, but haven't the courage to live it!'
'Where shall it be, Alma?'
'I have given no promise. I only say this is the life that IJ should like. Perhaps you would soon weary of it?'
'I? Not easily, I think.'
'There might be travel, too,' she went on fervently. 'We should be rich, when other people, living in the ordinary vulgar way, would have nothing to spare. No tours where the crowd goes; real travel in out-of-the-way parts.'
'You are describing just what I should choose for myself; but I shouldn't have dared to ask it of you.
'And why? I told you that you knew so little of me. We are only just beginning to understand each other.'
'What place have you in mind?'
'None. That would have to be thought about Didn't you say you were going to some beautiful spot in Wales?'