"Yes, I love him," she answered.
"Then we will not postpone the marriage. My child shall marry the man she loves, and have the strength of his love in the dark days that must follow; and in one week you will be back with me, no less my child because you are Hinton's wife."
"Father, I cannot."
"Not if I wish it, dear—if I have set my heart on it?"
"I cannot," she repeated.
She felt driven to her wits' end, and pressed her hands to her face.
"Charlotte, what is the meaning of this? There is more here than meets the eye. Have you and Hinton quarrelled?"
"No, except over this. And even over this it takes two to make a quarrel. I cannot marry next week; I have told him so. He is vexed, and you—you are vexed. Must I break my heart and leave you? You have always given me my own way; give it now. Don't send me away from you. It would break my heart to marry and leave you now."
"Is this indeed so, Charlotte?" he said. "Would you with your whole heart rather put it off?"