“Then may I inquire why you came?”
“A man brought me. Women are always carried about like corks upon the waves of masculine desires....I hope I have not alarmed you; but Hintock has the curious effect of bottling up the emotions till one can no longer hold them; I am often obliged to fly away and discharge my sentiments somewhere, or I should die outright.”
“There is very good society in the county for those who have the privilege of entering it.”
“Perhaps so. But the misery of remote country life is that your neighbors have no toleration for difference of opinion and habit. My neighbors think I am an atheist, except those who think I am a Roman Catholic; and when I speak disrespectfully of the weather or the crops they think I am a blasphemer.”
She broke into a low musical laugh at the idea.
“You don’t wish me to stay any longer?” he inquired, when he found that she remained musing.
“No—I think not.”
“Then tell me that I am to be gone.”
“Why? Cannot you go without?”
“I may consult my own feelings only, if left to myself.”