"I won't believe it!"
"Suppose I prove to you that marriage would wreck both your life and his"—he gazed at her with trembling intensity—"would you give him up to save him?"
She held his eye steadily:
"Yes—I'd die to save him!"
A pitiful stillness followed. The man scarcely moved. His lips quivered and his eyes grew dim. He looked at her pathetically and motioned her to a seat.
"And if I convince you," he went on tenderly, "you will submit yourself to my advice and leave America?"
The blue eyes never flinched as she firmly replied:
"Yes. But I warn you that no such barrier can exist."
"Then I must prove to you that it does." He drew a deep breath and watched her. "You realize the fact that a man who marries a nameless girl bars himself from all careers of honor?"
"The honor of fools, yes—of the noble and wise, no!"