'You accept my offer, then, Jim?' she cried, her beautiful eyes at the same time filling with tears.
'I cannot,' I answered. 'Deeply as I am touched by it, I cannot. It would not be right.'
'Oh, Jim, I never thought you would refuse. You will break my heart if you do. I have been thinking this out ever since you returned from Bourke, and always hoping that I should be able to persuade you to accept it. And now you refuse!'
She gave a deep sigh, and the big tears trembled in her eyes as if preparatory to flowing down her cheeks.
'Don't you see my position, Sheilah?' I said. 'Can't you understand that if I took your money, and invested in this enterprise, and it did not turn out a success, I might never have the means of repaying you. No! At any cost I feel that I ought not to take it.'
'Jim, you are giving me the greatest disappointment I have ever had in my life. Really you are.'
'Do you mean it?'
'I do.'
'Will it really make you happy if I accept?'
'Perfectly happy.'