Indeed, it was too strong to permit her so to do.

Not that she was animated by the half-divine, soul-searing breath of passion, such as animated her sister, which is a very rare thing, and, take it altogether, as undesirable and unsuitable to the ordinary conditions of this prosaic and work-a-day life as it is rare.

But she was tenderly and truly in love after the usual young-womanly fashion; indeed, her passion, measured by the everyday standard, would have proved to be a deep one.

However this might be, she was undoubtedly prepared to make John Niel a faithful and loving wife if he chose to ask her to marry him.
And as the weeks went on--though, of course, he knew nothing of all this--it became a very serious question to John whether he should not ask her.

It is not good for a man to live alone, especially in the Transvaal, and it was not possible for him to pass day by day at the side of so much beauty and so much grace without thinking that it would be well to draw the bond of union closer.