"No; it is not fair," he said, "to make me wait so long. I have a good income; I am careful, and not extravagant, and I know I can support you comfortably. Do not make me wait. Tell me will you marry me at once?"
"I cannot disobey my father," said the young lady, who had all at once become very dutiful.
"But do you think he has a right to interfere with your happiness?"
"He does it for my good."
"He thinks so; but do you agree with him?"
"Perhaps not; but I have always been taught to obey my father. I suppose he knows better than I what I ought to do."
"Surely, you are not afraid that I should be unable to support you comfortably?" said Cromwell, reproachfully.
"Oh, no," answered Clara. "I never think of money. My father often tells me that I ought to think more of it. As far as I am concerned, I should never think of asking whether you were worth one thousand dollars or ten."
James Cromwell listened to Clara as she spoke with assumed simplicity, her eyes downcast, and he was so infatuated by his love for her that he never thought of doubting her. In his inexperience of female wiles he was by no means a match for Clara, who was already, though yet under twenty, a finished female coquette. So he accepted her for what she chose to appear and the flame of his passion was increased.
"I am sure," he pleaded, "that if we were once married your father would not object. The legacy I spoke of is sure to come to me in a year or two, for my relative is very old and in very poor health, and there is no fear of his changing his will."