"You promise me that you will allow our young
sister, who has hardships enough to bear without any more being thrust
upon her, to try to be happy in the way she has chosen, and that you
will try to be happy in the way you should have chosen; that you will go
out into the world and act your part in life; that you will look upon
this affair as something which has vanished into the past; and that you
will say to your heart, 'You are free, if not by my will, by the
irresistible force of circumstances'?"
I looked at her a few moments in silence, and then answered, very
quietly, "I shall do nothing of the kind."
She gave her head a little toss and stepped backward, and then, with a
half laugh which seemed to indicate an amused hopelessness, she said:
"You are utterly impracticable, and I am certain I do not know what is
to be done about it. But I see that the boy has returned with the horse,
and I must continue my journey. I am going to the Iron Furnace to see a
sick woman. I wish you would think of what I have said, and remember
that it was spoken from the depth of my soul. And do not think," she
continued, as I turned and accompanied her toward the carriage, "that I
do not appreciate the state of your feelings. I understand them
thoroughly, and I sympathize with you as perhaps only a woman can
sympathize; but still I say to you that there are some things in this
world which we must give up, and which we ought to give up promptly and
willingly.
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