s going; that
certainly I should not do so, and much more of the same sort.

When at last he had tired himself out and smashed his favourite pipe
upon the table, Marie spoke, saying:

"My father, you know that I love you dearly, for since my mother's death
we have been everything to each other, have we not?"

"Surely, Marie, you are my life, and more than my life."

"Very well, my father. That being so, I acknowledge your authority over
me, whatever the law may say. I acknowledge that you have the right to
forbid me to marry Allan, and if you do forbid me--while I am under age,
at any rate--I shall not marry him because of my duty to you. But"--here
she rose and looked him full in the eyes, and oh! how stately she seemed
at that moment in her simple strength and youthful grace!--"there is one
thing, my father, that I do not acknowledge--your right to force me to
marry any other man. As a woman with power over herself, I deny that
right; and much as it pains me, my father, to refuse you anything, I say
that first I will die. To Allan here I have given myself for good or for
evil, and if I may not marry Allan, I will go to the grave unwed. If
my words hurt you, I pray you to pardon me, but at the same time to
remember that they are my words, which cannot be altered."

Marais looked at his daughter, and his daughter looked at Marais. At
first I thought that he was about to curse her; but if this were so,
something in her eyes seemed to change his mind, for all he said was:

"Intractable, like the rest of your race! Well, Fate may lead those who
cannot be driven, and this matter I leave in the hands of Fate. While
you are under age--that is, for two years or more--you may not marry
without my consent, and have just promised not to do so. Presently we
trek from this country into far-off lands. Who knows what may happen
there?"

"Yes," said my father in a solemn voice, speaking for the first time,
"who knows except God, Who governs all things, and will settle these
matters according to His will, Henri Marais? Listen," he went on after
a pause, for Marais made no answer, but sat himself down and stared
gloomily at the table. "You do not wish my son to marry your daughter
for various reasons, of which one is that you think him poor and a
richer suitor has offered himself after a reverse of fortune has made
_you_ poor. Another and a greater, the true reason, is his English
blood, which you hate so much that, although by G