"In her way; but if he marries her he will have earned her!—He went down to Bermuda on purpose to become engaged to Merry."
"He did!" Hamlen exclaimed, surprised; "why, they were never together when I saw them."
"Nor often at other times. Of course, it was ridiculous,—but with you, Philip, she'll be the happiest girl in all the world."
His eyes dropped quickly as she turned the conversation, and the expression on his face completely changed.
"You are wrong, Marian," he protested; "no happiness can ever come to any woman through me."
"Don't disparage yourself," she answered gently. "You are a different man from what you were. Do you think I would counsel this if I were not sure?"
"You believe it, Marian," he conceded, "and I wish I shared your confidence. But I know myself. The time when I might have made something of what I had passed long ago. If I am to go on at all it must be with my real self suppressed, and the only way to do this is to plod my path alone."
"Why slip back, Philip? Why suppress your real self?"
"I know the danger of permitting it to assume control."
"When last we talked you seemed willing to accept my judgment."