That dream was over.

She was sure however that she liked him.
But how would it be with him?
It might be well for her to become his wife, but could it be well for him that he should become her husband?
Did she not feel that it would be better for him that he should become a man before he married at all?
Perhaps so;--but then if she desisted would others desist?
If she did not put out her bait would there not be other hooks,--others and worse?
Would not such a one, so soft, so easy, so prone to be caught and so desirable for the catching, be sure to be made prey of by some snare?
But could she love him?
That a woman should not marry a man without loving him, she partly knew.

But she thought she knew also that there must be exceptions.

She would do her very best to love him.

That other man should be banished from her very thoughts.