"I told you that I did not love you, that I never had felt any love for you."
"You had the frankness to inform me of that, and to say that you had thrown your heart away on some one else, who declined the gift altogether."
Bessie bowed her head over her flowers.
"Yes, you told me that as we walked in the mud on the road; and then you refused me, but changed your mind before many hours had passed. I have no doubt that, when I am your husband, you will learn to love and admire me. However, this is no condition."
"No condition?" asked Bessie, rising, and looking him in the face. "Surely it is. I will take you, as you insist on it, and as my father desires it; but it must be on the understanding that you do not ask of me at once what is not in my power to give, I will try to love you, I promise you. I will strive with my whole heart to give you all I undertake; but I cannot do that at once."
"Oh! you call that a condition. It is well. I accept it." There was a veiled sneer in his tone.
"Then, again," continued Bessie, "I made my father promise, if I gave my consent, that he would try to forgive Anthony."
"What!—forgive and reinstate him?" asked Fox, sharply.
"There was nothing said about reinstating him. I suppose that my father and you have talked about Hall, and everything that concerns the property, and that you understand the circumstances fully."