"What is wrong with you?"
"I am desolated over your engagement to my cousin. We thank you for the honor, but we decline it."
"Indeed! as the engagement does not include you, I must own that I will take my dismissal only from your cousin."
"Look at me,—do I seem like one in play? God knows I do not wish to torment you. All night I walked my floor, and Rose,—unhappy Rose! I shudder when I think how she passed the black hours after my cruel revealings."
"What have you said to Rose?" asked Vesper, in a fury. "You forget that she now belongs to me."
"She belongs to no one but our Lord," said Agapit, in an agony. "You cannot have her, though the thought makes my heart bleed for you."
Vesper's face flushed. "If you will let it stop bleeding long enough to be coherent, I shall be obliged to you."
"Oh, do not be angry with me,—let me tell you now that I love you for your kindness to my people. You came among us,—you, an Englishman. You did not despise us. You offer my cousin your hand, and it breaks our hearts to refuse it, but she cannot marry you. She sends you that message,—'You must go away and forget me. Marry another woman if you so care. I must give you up.' These are her words as she stood pale and cold."