He rose. She stopped him by a gesture.
“A young woman,” she answered, “would shrink from saying—what I, as an old woman, mean to say now. I refuse to leave you to your fate. I ask you to prove that you respect me, admire me, and thank me with your whole heart. Take one day to think—and let me hear the result. You promise me this?”
He promised. “Now go,” she said.
VII.
NEXT morning Ernest received a letter from Mrs. Callender. She wrote to him as follows:
“There are some considerations which I ought to have mentioned yesterday evening, before you left my house.
“I ought to have reminded you—if you consent to reconsider your decision—that the circumstances do not require you to pledge yourself to me absolutely.
“At my age, I can with perfect propriety assure you that I regard our marriage simply and solely as a formality which we must fulfill, if I am to carry out my intention of standing between you and ruin.
“Therefore—if the missing ship appears in time, the only reason for the marriage is at an end. We shall be as good friends as ever; without the encumbrance of a formal tie to bind us.
“In the other event, I should ask you to submit to certain restrictions which, remembering my position, you will understand and excuse.