Ellen saw the smile and grew faint; it betokened so much happiness in the heart of Astral. "Ah me!" she sighed.
The young man resumed, "Never in years has a proposed marriage been so much discussed as this one."
"The people do me a signal honor, I am sure," was Astral's reply.
"Yes, but not in the way that you suppose, Mr. Herndon," was his response.
"The comment is unfavorable to me, then, I presume," Astral remarked.
The young man felt that his time had arrived so he reared back in his chair and closed his eyes preparatory to the delivery of his speech which Ellen had helped him to compose.
"Yes, Mr. Herndon, the comment is decidedly against you. Society confers upon all men certain blessings otherwise unattainable. What would any man's life be worth without the blessings which society confers! In return for these blessings society establishes certain laws and customs which all are expected to obey."
Here he slightly opened his eyes to see the effect his argument was having on Astral. Noting nothing decisive he closed them again.
Ellen murmured to herself, "Good! Go on!"
The young man resumed, "Some of its requirements society enacts into laws and compels obedience thereto. Others are left to the influence of public sentiment. Every true member of a community, I hold, is in duty bound to yield to every demand of enlightened public sentiment."