"In so many words she asked me, and never flinched.
"And I didn't flinch. I was so indignant, so outraged!
"'No!' I said.
"I hope I did not shout the word, but the room seemed to echo with it, somehow.
"'You mean that?' she asked; and I said that I meant it fervently.
"She got up and went to the door. There she waited, her hands in her coat-pockets, staring at the door. 'Of course you know that you have behaved disgracefully?' she said. 'I should never have trusted myself so much in your society but that I believed you to be an honourable man. I find you are not. If my father were younger he would punish you as you deserve. As it is—.'
"As it is, thank goodness, she went. Where's the good of bothering you with more of her invective?
"And I am going; to make room for another curate—another confirmed bachelor.
"She did not spare me of course. Among other agreeable things she said that I was a heartless Brute, and she hoped I should get what I deserved.
"I shall get a lot more than I deserve, between you and me, Charles. For, thanks to you and your pegging away, I wrote and asked little Mary once again if she would have me.