sometimestheyboredmefearfully。Butyouweresuchaverycuriouscaseof——whatshallIcallit？——ofsincerity，thatIdeterminedtotakegoodandbadtogether。Iwantedtomakeyoucommityourselfunmistakably。Ishouldhavepreferrednottobringyoutothisplace;butthattoowasnecessary。OfcourseIcan’tmarryyou;I
candobetter。Socanyou，forthatmatter;thankyourfateforit。
Youhavethoughtwondersofmeforamonth，butyourgood—humourwouldn’tlast。Iamtoooldandtoowise;youaretooyoungandtoofoolish。ItseemstomethatIhavebeenverygoodtoyou;Ihaveentertainedyoutothetopofyourbent，and，exceptperhapsthatI
amalittlebrusquejustnow，youhavenothingtocomplainof。I
wouldhaveletyoudownmoregentlyifIcouldhavetakenanothermonthtoit;butcircumstanceshaveforcedmyhand。Abuseme，curseme，ifyoulike。Iwillmakeeveryallowance！\"Pickeringlistenedtoallthisintentlyenoughtoperceivethat，asifbysomesuddennaturalcataclysm，thegroundhadbrokenawayathisfeet，andthathemustrecoil。Heturnedawayindumbamazement。\"Idon’tknowhowIseemedtobetakingit，\"hesaid，\"butsheseemedreallytodesire—