r, and he would ruin my life as well as his own. No, thank you.
However, I am convinced that you are altogether mistaken, and Cuthbert
Hartington would no more dream of asking me to be his wife than I should
of taking him for a husband--the idea is altogether preposterous."

However, a week later, Cuthbert, on going up to Porthalloc one morning,
and catching sight of Mary Brander in the garden by herself, joined her
there and astonished her by showing that Anna was not mistaken in her
view. He commenced abruptly--

"Do you know, Miss Brander, I have been thinking over your arguments,
and I have come to the conclusion that woman has really a mission in
life. Its object is not precisely that which you have set yourself, but
it is closely allied to it, my view being that her mission is to
contribute to the sum of human happiness by making one individual man
happy!"

"Do you mean, is it possible that you can mean, that you think woman's
mission is to marry?" she asked, with scorn, "are you going back to
that?"

"That is entirely what I meant, but it is a particular case I was
thinking of, rather than a general one. I was thinking of your case and
mine. I do not say that you might not do something towards adding to the
happiness of mankind, but mankind are not yearning for it. On the other
hand I am sure that you could make me happy, and I am yearning for that
kind of happiness."

"Are you really in earnest, Mr. Hartington?"

"Quite in earnest, very much so; in the six weeks that I have been here
I have learnt to love you, and to desire, more earnestly certainly than
I have ever desired anything before, that you should be my wife. I know
that you do not credit me with any great earnestness of purpose, but I
am quite earnest in this. I do love you, Mary."

"I am sorry to hear it, and am surprised, really and truly surprised. I
thought you disapproved of me altogether, but I did think you gave me
credit for being sincere. It is clear you did not, or you could not
suppose that I would give up all my plans before even commencing them. I
like you very much, Cuthbert, though I disapprove of you as much as I
thought you disapproved of me; but if ever I do marry, and I hope I
shall never be weak enough to do so, it must be to someone who has the
same views of life that I have; but I feel sure that I shall never love
anyone if love is really what one reads of in books, where woman is
always ready to sacrifice her whole life a