'Won't you change your mind, Lucy?' he said earnestly.
'Oh, my dear, I don't love you. I wish I did. But I don't and I'm afraid I never can.'
'Won't you marry me all the same?'
'Do you care for me so much as that?' she cried painfully.
'Perhaps you will learn to love me in time.'
'Don't be so humble; you make me still more ashamed. Bobbie, I should like to make you happy if I thought I could. It seems very wonderful to me that you should want to have me. But I must be honest with you. I know that if I pretend I'm willing to marry you merely for your sake I'm deceiving myself. I want to marry you because I'm afraid. I want to crush my love for Alec. I want to make it impossible for me ever to weaken in my resolve. You see, I'm horrid and calculating, and it's very little I can offer you.'
'I don't care why you're marrying me,' he said. 'I want you so badly.'
'Oh, no, don't take me like that. Let me say first that if you really think me worth having, I will do my duty gladly. And if I have no love to give, I have a great deal of affection and a great deal of gratitude. I want you to be happy.'
He went down on his knees and kissed her hands passionately.
'I'm so thankful,' he murmured. 'I'm so thankful.'