"I know," replied Marian. "I've seen him break away from a crowd in the middle of a sentence to put your rubbers on for you."
"All that," resumed Edith, "is the result of careful training. And what Tom needs is heroic treatment. If you will promise to do exactly as I say, you will have his entire devotion inside of a month."
"I promise," responded Marian hopefully.
"First, then, take off your engagement ring."
Marian's pretty brown head drooped lower and lower, and a brighter diamond fell into her lap. She felt again the passionate tenderness in his voice when he told her how much he loved her, and she remembered how he had kissed each finger-tip separately, then the diamond, just because it was hers.
She looked at her friend with eyes full of tears. "Edith, I can't."
"Take it off."
Marian obeyed, very slowly, then threw herself at the side of the couch sobbing. "Edith, Edith," she cried, "don't be so cross to me! I am so dreadfully unhappy!"
"Marian, dearest, I'm not cross, but I want you to be a sensible girl. The happiness of your whole life is at stake, and I want you to be brave—it is now or never with Mr. Thomas Drayton. If you let him torture you now for his own amusement, he will do it all his life!"
"I'll try, Edith, but you don't know how it hurts."