“Monsieur, all this has made you what you are,” she said, directly. “I did feel much of this. I felt this restlessness in you. And I think I know what you are going to do. You have qualities of the heart that will make you see clearly in the end; the qualities of the heart are sounder, truer than the qualities of the mind; make no mistake. Will you tell me about her? The young girl?”
“May I?” We had drawn a little together and stood looking over the rail at the tumbling swirl below. “After all, why not?” I added, hesitating.
“Monsieur, sometimes it is easier to speak of the deep things in our hearts to some one we meet just for a moment and never see again, when each is true of heart and understands.” She turned and a smile touched her lips,—a smile of dignity and friendliness. “I should not ask it if I did not think, if I did not feel very strongly, that I might help you to see a little clearer. She loves you, does she not?”
I did not realize then how strange the conversation was, nor the sudden intimacy that drew us together.
“It is easy to tell you anything, Mademoiselle,” I said, smiling back into her eyes. “But the situation is not just what you think. Do you believe in marriage without love?”
“I believe—we are taught to believe—that love should follow marriage,” she said, hesitating. “And if both are loyal—”
“That is your tradition; it is not ours. And you—is it always possible for you to control your hearts?”
“We are taught that such love can only mean tragedy and unhappiness,” she answered, staring away from me.
“Mademoiselle, it is Mr. Brinsmade’s daughter.” She looked up at this, startled. “We have grown up together. She is charming. I admire and respect her. Once, I thought it was a little more than that. But—but I do not love her. Let me tell you all. It would mean everything to me—power, opportunity, a big life—and Mr. Brinsmade would like it.” Then I told her of our conversation, as best I could remember. “And now, to be honest, I think—I believe that she cares for me and—yet I do not love her.”
“Your pride is very strong,” she said solemnly.