"I don't like bein' married as if I was ashamed of it."
She was suggesting a clandestine marriage, just what he wanted. He met the question frankly.
"It does look cowardly in me to ask such a thing; but if I get that money, I could buy an interest in the furnaces from Colonel Hornberger, and we could live as well as they do."
"It would be nice to have a home like the Hornbergers'. If we was rich, I'd want long hair. Guess it will grow, though;" and she ran one hand through it, shaking it out.
"I like it better as it is," and he played with it too.
"Do you, dear? Then I'll never have it long again."
"And your father is old enough to quit working. We could give him and your mother a good home, and I'd help Levi become a lawyer. We could do lots of things if we had mother's money. She is old and won't live long, perhaps a couple of years."
"Let us wait for two years."
"No, I will not. If you do not marry me, I will go away."
"John, would you marry me and give up the money—marry me before people and send your mother word?"