e's
engagement, and how nothing had come of the whole thing except that
Bernard had supposed that I thought too much of George, and had gone
away that morning as cold as a common acquaintance; and that I felt as
though my whole life had been wrecked, and that she had done it.

"It was easy to see that she was not affected as she should have been by
what I said. In fact, she looked as though she wanted to laugh; but her
respect for me prevented that.

"'I do not see,' she said, 'how I have wrecked your life.'

"'That may be so,' I answered, 'but it is because you do not want to see
it. I should think that even you would admit that it is enough to drive
me crazy to see any woman waiting and longing for the day which would
give her that which I prize more than anything else in the world. And to
think what you are aspiring to! None of the old left-overs that other
people have offered to you, but my Bernard, the very prince of men! I do
not wonder you were so quick to promise me you would take him!'

"She jumped up, and I thought she was going away; but she did not go,
and turned again toward me, and remarked, just as coolly as anybody
could speak: 'Well, I do not wonder, either. Your Bernard is a most
estimable man, and if nothing should happen in any way or at any time to
interfere in the case of his surviving you I shall be happy to marry
him. I think I would make him a very good wife.'

"At this I sprang to my feet, and I am sure my eyes and cheeks were
blazing. 'Do you mean,' I cried, 'that you would make him a better wife
than I do?'

"'That is a question,' she said, 'that is not easy to answer, and needs
a good deal of consideration.' And she spoke with as much deliberation
as if she were trying to decide whether it would be better to cover a
floor with matting or carpet. 'For one thing, I do not believe I would
nag him.'

"'Nag!' I exclaimed. 'What do you mean by that? Do you suppose I nag
him?'

"'I do not know anything about it,' she answered, 'except what you told
me yourself; and what you said was my reason for agreeing so quickly to
your proposition.'

"'Nag!' I cried. But then I stopped. I thought it would be better to
wait until I could think over what I had said to her before I pursued
this subject. 'But I can tell you one thing,' I continued, 'and that is
that you need not have any hopes in the direction of my husband. I am
going to tell him everything just as soon as he comes home, even about
yo