"Oh, Robert, I—I couldn't do that! One could swallow anything but a husband. A husband is always there; he can't be swallowed."
"Yes, he can. You don't understand those things, child. After the first gulp, you won't notice him; one husband is much the same as another, after a bit. It's his surroundings, not his personality, that will affect your life and your happiness; and they are good—the best of their kind."
"Oh, Bob, Bob, I never thought you would take it like this!" breaks in Addie, half crying.
"Addie, child, my first thought is your welfare; all selfish emotions, all inward stings must subside before that consideration. You'll not get another chance like this; and we Lefroys must e'en bow our haughty heads and swim with the tide. We're not prepared to pull against it; we should only sink in the struggle. Marry him, Addie, my dear. It will be as I have said, a bit of a wrench at first, but you'll soon get over it, and you will always have your family to fall back upon. We shall be always there, never you fear, to stand by you—to brush him up for you, to—"
"Oh, yes, yes," bursts in an eager impassioned chorus, "we'll stand by you, Addie, darling!"
"We'll brush him up for you!"
"We'll tone him down; you'll see—you'll see!"
"Marry him—marry him, dear! Never mind his vulgarity."
"Never mind the vitriol or the chemical ma—"
"Or the grocer's van, or anything. You'll have us and the old place back again. What does anything else signify? Marry him, marry him, Addie!"