“And do I not love you? Have I not offered
to be to you in all respects as a sister?”
“That is nothing. Such an offer to me now
is simply laughing at me. Bell, I tell you what,—I
will not give you up. The fact is, you do not
know me yet,—not know me as you must know
any man before you choose him for your husband.
You and Lily are not alike in this. You are cautious,
doubtful of yourself, and perhaps, also, somewhat
doubtful of others. My heart is set upon this,
and I shall still try to succeed.”
“Ah, Bernard, do not say that! Believe
me, when I tell you that it can never be.”
“No; I will not believe you. I will not
allow myself to be made utterly wretched. I tell
you fairly that I will not believe you. I may
surely hope if I choose to hope. No, Bell, I will
never give you up,—unless, indeed, I should
see you become another man’s wife.”
As he said this, they all turned in through the squire’s
gate, and rode up to the yard in which it was their
habit to dismount from their horses.
John Eames Takes a Walk
John Eames watched the party of cavaliers as they
rode away from his mother’s door, and then started
upon a solitary walk, as soon as the noise of the
horses’ hoofs had passed away out of the street.
He was by no means happy in his mind as he did so.
Indeed, he was overwhelmed with care and trouble,
and as he went along very gloomy thoughts passed through
his mind. Had he not better go to Australia,
or Vancouver’s Island, or—? I will
not name the places which the poor fellow suggested
to himself as possible terminations of the long journeys
which he might not improbably be called upon to take.
That very day, just before the Dales had come in,
he had received a second letter from his darling Amelia,
written very closely upon the heels of the first.
Why had he not answered her? Was he ill?
Was he untrue? No; she would not believe that,
and therefore fell back upon the probability of his
illness. If it was so, she would rush down to
see him. Nothing on earth should keep her from
the bedside of her betrothed. If she did not
get an answer from her beloved John by return of post,
she would be down with him at Guestwick by the express
train. Here was a position for such a young man
as John Eames! And of Amelia Roper we may say
that she was a young woman who would not give up her
game, as long as the least chance remained of her
winning it. “I must go somewhere,”
John said to himself, as he put on his slouched hat
and wandered forth through the back streets of Guestwick.
What would his mother say when she heard of Amelia
Roper? What would she say when she saw her?
