ll find them equally reasonable when we get
home; but should they be changed, should there be any sign shewn that
my choice of a wife had occasioned displeasure,--such displeasure
would not affect you."

"But it would affect you."

"Not at all. In my own house I am master,--and I mean to continue to
be so. You will be mistress there, and the only fear touching such
a position is that it may be recognised by others too strongly. You
have nothing to fear, Carry."

"It is of you I am thinking."

"Nor have I. What if some old women, or even some young women, should
turn up their noses at the wife I have chosen, because she has not
been chosen from among their own countrywomen, is that to be a cause
of suffering to us? Can not we rise above that,--lasting as it would
do for a few weeks, a month or two perhaps,--say a year,--till my
Caroline shall have made herself known? I think that we are strong
enough to live down a trouble so light." He had come close to her
as he was speaking, and had again put his arm round her waist. She
tried to escape from his embrace,--not with persistency, not with the
strength which always suffices for a woman when the embrace is in
truth a thing to be avoided, but clutching at his fingers with hers,
pressing them rather than loosening their grasp. "No, Carry," he
continued; "we have got to go through with it now, and we will try
and make the best of it. You may trust me that we shall not find it
difficult,--not, at least, on the ground of your present fears. I can
bear a heavier burden than you will bring upon me."

"I know that I ought to prove to you that I am right," she said,
still struggling with his hand.

"And I know that you can prove nothing of the kind. Dearest, it is
fixed between us now, and do not let us be so silly as to raise
imaginary difficulties. Of course you would have to marry me, even if
there were cause for such fears. If there were any great cause, still
the game would be worth the candle. There could be no going back, let
the fear be what it might. But there need be no fear if you will only
love me." She felt that he was altogether too strong for her,--that
she had mistaken his character in supposing that she could be more
firm than he. He was so strong that he treated her almost as a
child;--and yet she loved him infinitely the better for so treating
her. Of course, she knew now that her objection, whether true or
unsubstantial, could not avail. As he stood with