My presence would give ground to these
expectations. Therefore, Q.E.D., as a modest, self-respecting damsel I
cannot go! I must stay at home. I shall be dull; I shall be lonely; I
shall be disappointed,' (You _would_ be disappointed, Katrine!) `But my
self-respect will be preserved. No man shall ever have it in his power
to say that I have travelled to the end of the world "on appro,"--that I
have deliberately thrown myself in his way. Sooner a hundred times
death or life-solitude! The question is settled. Let it rest. Selah!'

"Are you angry, dear? Are your cheeks red? Is there a light burning in
those deep eyes? I'll bet there is, and don't I wish I could see it!
Don't be hurt with me for divining the workings of your mind. I'll make
a clean breast of my own in return...

"I _do_ think! I _do_ imagine! I _do_ expect! It's not a new phase,
it began a couple of years ago, when I fell in love with the portrait of
a girl's face, and the portrait of the girl herself, as portrayed in her
weekly letters. And I diagnosed the position from those letters, and
thinks I:--`That Martin fellow will soon break loose, he's coming to
life with a rush;--that little girl's billet is about run out. She will
be needing another, one of these days. _I could give her another_!'
And I set myself to pave the way.

"So there it is, Katrine; you have it at last--the full and free
confession of a man, who, bereft of force, resorted to guile wherewith
to win a wife...

"I've been sitting for a quarter of an hour staring at that last word,
and _thinking_!

"It seems an extraordinary term to use in connection with a woman one
has never seen, but I know _you_, we know each other, better than half
the couples who go to the altar. It's no good reminding me that this is
only the fourth time I have written to you. I know that perfectly well,
but will you kindly recollect that I have been sharing in letters
written by you for the last six years, besides which, of course, I have
had the advantage of hearing constant descriptions from Dorothea's lips.
It's more difficult for you; don't think I minimise that! If I seem
wanting in consideration it is _only_ seeming; I realise only too well
how hard it must be for you, poor, proud little girl. But you must
come, you know! There's no way out of that. Be sensible, Katrine.
Don't get angry! Sit down and let me talk to you quietly, and show you
how the question appears to me...

"