house constructed
with a special view to an advantageous display of this promised work
of art. Fearing the ponderous effect of a pedestal large enough to hold
such a considerable group, he had planned to raise it to the level of
the eye by having the alcove floor built a few feet higher than the main
one. A flight of low, wide steps connected the two, which, following the
curve of the wall, added much to the beauty of this portion of the hall.

The group was a failure and was never shipped; but the alcove remained,
and, possessing as it did all the advantages of a room in the way of
heat and light, had been turned into a miniature retreat of exceptional
beauty.

The seclusion it offered extended, or so we were happy to think, to the
solitary divan at its base on which Mr. Durand and I were seated. With
possibly an undue confidence in the advantage of our position, we were
discussing a subject interesting only to ourselves, when Mr. Durand
interrupted himself to declare: "You are the woman I want, you and you
only. And I want you soon. When do you think you can marry me? Within a
week--if--"

Did my look stop him? I was startled. I had heard no incoherent phrase
from him before.

"A week!" I remonstrated. "We take more time than that to fit ourselves
for a journey or some transient pleasure. I hardly realize my engagement
yet."

"You have not been thinking of it for these last two months as I have."

"No," I replied demurely, forgetting everything else in my delight at
this admission.

"Nor are you a nomad among clubs and restaurants."

"No, I have a home."

"Nor do you love me as deeply as I do you."

This I thought open to argument.

"The home you speak of is a luxurious one," he continued. "I can not
offer you its equal Do you expect me to?"

I was indignant.

"You know that I do not. Shall I, who deliberately chose a nurse's life
when an indulgent uncle's heart and home were open to me, shrink from
braving poverty with the man I love? We will begin as simply as you
please--"

"No," he peremptorily put in, yet with a certain hesitancy which seemed
to speak of doubts he hardly acknowledged to himself, "I will not marry
you if I must expose you to privation or to the genteel poverty I hate.
I love you more than you realize, and wish to make your life a happy
one. I can not give you all you have been accustomed to in your rich
uncle's house, but if matters prosper with me, if the chance I have
built