'You see, that decision waits on the previous question,' he answered.
'But it has got to be decided,' said Miss Frere, 'or you will be'—
'Nothing. Yes, I am aware of that.'
There was again a pause.
'Miss Frere,' Pitt then began again, 'did you ever see a person whose happiness rested on a lasting foundation?'
The young lady looked at her companion anew as if he were to her a very odd character.
'What do you mean?' she said.
'I mean, a person who was thoroughly happy, not because of circumstances, but in spite of them?'
'To begin with, I never saw anybody that was "thoroughly happy." I do not believe in the experience.'
'I am obliged to believe in it. I have known a person who seemed to be clean lifted up out of the mud and mire of troublesome circumstances, and to have got up to a region of permanent clear air and sunshine. I have been envying that person ever since.'