“Must a man speak ere he can convey to the woman he loves the fact that he loves her?”
“If the woman love him not, he must speak, and still she finds his preference unaccountable.”
“You do not love me?”
“No.”
“And cannot?”
“And cannot.”
“You would even rob me of all hope, the lover’s guiding star?”
“If you call it robbing to take from you what should never have been possessed.”
“Why should I not have possessed that hope? Is it because I am untitled, while you are the daughter of the man who was the proudest peer in England?”
“Titles have naught to do with it.”