ehaved
as I did. There's nothing to go and mope about, that Lord Talgarth has
been kind enough to do me this honor. Because it is an honor, you know,
however you look at it, that anyone should ask one to be his wife.

"Well, I want to say what I have to say first, and then I want you to
say exactly what you think. I've thought it all out, so I shan't be very
long."

(He put down his cup noiselessly, as if in the presence of a sick
person. He was anxious not to lose a word, or even an inflection).

"First of all, let's have all the things against it. He's an old man. We
mustn't forget that for one minute. And that's a very strong argument
indeed. Some people would think it final, but I think that's
foolish....

"Secondly, it never entered my head for one instant." (Jenny said this
quite deliberately, almost reverently.) "Of course I see now that he's
hinted at it very often, but I never understood it at the time. I've
always thought of him as a sort of--well--a sort of uncle. And that's
another strong argument against it. If it was a right thing to do,
oughtn't it to have occurred to me too? I'm not quite sure about that.

"Thirdly, it's unsuitable for several reasons. It'll make talk. Here
have I been engaged to Frank for ages and broken it off. Can't you
imagine how people will interpret that now? I suppose I oughtn't to mind
what people say, but I'm afraid I do. Then I'm the Rector's daughter ...
and I've been running in and out continually--dining with them, sitting
with him alone. Can't you imagine what people--Lady Richard, for
instance--will make of it?... I shall be an adventuress, and all the
rest of it. That's not worth much as an argument, but it is a ... a
consideration. One must look facts in the face and think of the future.

"Fourthly, Lord Talgarth probably won't live very long...." (Jenny
paused, and then, with extraordinary impressiveness, continued).... "And
that, of, course, is perhaps the strongest argument of all. If I could
be of any real use to him--" She stopped again.

The Rector shifted a little in his chair.

It was impossible for him to conceal from himself any longer the fact
that up to now he had really been expecting Jenny to accept the offer.
But he was a little puzzled now at the admirable array of reasons she
had advanced against that. She had put into words just the sensible view
of which he himself had only had a confused apprehension; she had
analyzed into all its component