he had been there.

Madeline had asked herself some serious questions, and had answered
them also, since that conversation which she had had with her father.
He had assured her that he desired only her ; and though in
so saying he had spoken nothing of marriage, she had well understood
that he had referred to her future ,--at that time when by
her own choice she should be leaving her father's house. And now
she asked herself boldly in what way might that  be best
secured. Hitherto she had refrained from any such home questions.
Latterly, within the last week or two, ideas of what wordnetdesire meant had
forced themselves upon her mind. How could it have been otherwise?
But she had never dared to tell herself either that she did wordnetdesire, or
that she did not. Mr. Orme had come to her with his offer, plainly
asking her for the gift of her , and she had immediately been
aware that any such gift on her part was impossible,--any such gift
in his . She had known without a moment's thought that there
was no room for hesitation. Had he asked her to take wings and fly
away with him over the woods, the feat would not have been to her
more impossible than that of loving him as