 with her father, am I
justified or not in freely consenting to that?«
    »I scarcely understand. Has Marian expressed a wish to devote herself in
that way?«
    »Not distinctly. But I suspect that her conscience points to it. I am in
serious doubt. On the one hand,« he explained in a tone of candour, »who will
not blame me if our engagement terminates in circumstances such as these? On the
other - you are aware, by-the-by, that her father objects in the strongest way
to this marriage?«
    »No, I didn't know that.«
    »He will neither see me nor hear of me. Merely because of my connection with
Fadge. Think of that poor girl thus situated. And I could so easily put her at
rest by renouncing all claim upon her.«
    »I surmise that - that you yourself would also be put at rest by such a
decision?«
    »Don't look at me with that ironical smile,« he pleaded. »What you have said
is true. And really, why should I not be glad of it? I couldn't go about
declaring that I was heart-broken, in any event; I must be content for people to
judge me according to their disposition, and judgments are pretty sure to be
unfavourable. What can I do? In either case I must to a certain extent be in the
wrong. To tell the truth, I was wrong from the first.«
    There was a slight movement about Amy's lips as these words were uttered:
she kept her eyes down, and waited before replying.
    »The case is too delicate, I fear, for my advice.«
    »Yes, I feel it; and perhaps I oughtn't to have spoken of it at all. Well,
I'll go back to my scribbling. I am so very glad to have seen you again.«
    »It was good of you to take the trouble to come - whilst you have so much on
your mind.«
    Again Jasper held the white, soft hand for a superfluous moment.
    The next morning it was he who had to wait at the rendezvous; he was pacing
the pathway at least ten minutes before the appointed time. When Marian joined
him, she was panting from a hurried walk, and this affected Jasper disagreeably;
he thought of Amy Reardon's air of repose, and how impossible it would be for
that refined person to fall into such disorder. He observed, too, with more
disgust than
