"Which is pleasant for me to contemplate," he replied grimly.
"It's a mess, isn't it? What d'you expect me to do? What do you want me to do?"
"If it's a question of the best thing for you," he said, speaking slowly and with effort, "that would be for you to fall in love genuinely with some man who would understand you and safeguard you——"
"You want me to marry? Do you, Cary?"
"It will almost kill me," he said between his teeth. "But—it's the way, for you."
"Probably it is. I'll make a rotten wife," she said, as she had said to Dr. Osterhout.
"You could make heaven or hell for a man. But marriage alone isn't going to be enough. There are other things."
"You mean—children?"
"That, too. But what I meant was some background for yourself. Your music, or reading, or some interest to fall back on."