"To be near me?"
"Partly."
"Nina, you half frighten me. You are not going to do me an injury? It will prejudice my mother seriously if she finds out my—my—"
"Your love for me," finished Josephine.
"Yes."
"Why will it prejudice her?"
"Need I—must I tell you? My mother is proud; she—she would almost disown me if I made a mésalliance."
Nina flung back her head.
"You talk like a boy," she said. "When you marry me you save, not degrade, yourself. Ah, I know a secret. Such a secret! Such a blessed, blessed, happy secret for me. It is turning me into a good girl. It causes my heart to sing. When I think of it I revel in delight; when I think of it I could dance: when I remember it I could shout with exultation."
"Nina, what do you mean?"