He turned and put his hands on her shoulders. “Edith, I—mustn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Not until I have something to offer you——”
“You have something to offer——”
“Oh, I know what you mean. But—I won’t. Somehow this affair of Jane’s with your uncle has made me see——”
“See what?”
“Oh, how the world would look at it. How he’d look at it.”
“Uncle Frederick? He hasn’t anything to do with it. I’m my own mistress.”
“I know. But—— Oh, I can’t analyze it, Edith. I love you—no end. More than—anything. But I won’t ask you to marry me.”
“Do you know how selfish you are?”