"I mean just what I say. We love one another, and I am willing to be his wife if he desires it—and with your permission. But—"
He waited for her to go on.
"Another 'But'!" he said presently, though with increasing mildness.
"I do not think he will desire it after a while. And … and I do not know what I wish. I am torn in two."
"But you are willing?"
"I pray for it every night," she cried piteously. "And every morning I pray that it may not be so."
She was staring at him as if in agony, utterly unlike what he had looked for in her. He was completely bewildered.
"I do not understand one word—"
Then she threw herself at his knees and seized his hands; her face was all torn with pain.
"And I cannot explain one word…. Father, I am in misery. You must pray for me and have patience with me…. I must wait … I must wait and see what God wishes."