"You have enlightened me.

I had forgotten that it doesn't follow, because I love you, that you should love me in return.
Say that it is so, Mercy, and I leave you." A faint tinge of color rose on her face--then left it again paler than ever.

Her eyes looked downward timidly under the eager gaze that he fastened on her.
"How _can_ I say so ?" she answered, simply.

"Where is the woman in my place whose heart could resist you ?" He eagerly advanced; he held out his arms to her in breathless, speechless joy.

She drew back from him once more with a look that horrified him--a look of blank despair.
"Am I fit to be your wife ?" she asked.