“Do not be frightened. It is not for your lovely face that I admire you most, but for the rich depth of thought and the true nobility of your character. You may be far above me in social rank and you have won a name that is fast becoming an everyday word. You no doubt have and will still have offers of marriage from men far up in the social scale, and I have been disgraced, and I 308 only lay my love at your feet for you to stoop down and accept or to cast it aside as you see fit. I dare not hope for a return. Nay, I do not expect it, but I must let you know that the greatest love that I have ever known, or ever shall know, is and will be the love I have for you.”
Miss Elsworth arose and stood with clasped hands and eyes looking downward. She turned her face away from Scott’s gaze and remained silent.
“You have no answer for me?” Scott said, while his clear, rich voice trembled with emotion. “You cannot give what I have given you, and I do not blame you that it is so.”
She turned and looked in to his face with sorrowful eyes, saying:
“I am so sorry you have spoken those words to me.”
“Do not let it grieve you; my heart has long since been schooled to bear the bitterest disappointments, and I shall have the strength to bear even this. I would not have you entertain one sorrowful thought for me, for I should be less happy if I thought you grieved for one hour.”
“If it could be——”
She stopped suddenly.
“It cannot. I will say the words that you are trying so hard to speak—that you cannot love me; but I could not be satisfied until I heard the words from your own lips. I am not a nobleman or a man who adores fashionable society; but, oh, my darling, I have a heart!”
She started as though she had seen a ghost.