"Well, then, you know now. Will you marry me or will you not? I want it straight."
"No. No."
"And—why not?"
He was horribly cool and calm.
"Because I don't want to marry you. I don't want to marry anybody."
"Good God! What do you want, then?"
"I want to go away and earn my own living as other women do."
The absurdity of it melted him. He could have gone down on his knees at her feet and kissed her cold hands. He wondered afterward why on earth he hadn't. Then he remembered that all the time she had kept her hands locked behind her.
"You poor child, you don't want to earn your own living. I'll tell you what you do want. You want to get away from home."
"And what if I do? You've seen what it's like. Would you stay in it a day longer than you could help if you were me?"