Tellmenowwhathasmadeyourunawayfrommesofastthesefewdays——tellme，yousweetlittlecoquette!“Maryceasedstruggling，butturnedsoastobealmostoppositetohim，whileshespokeoutcalmly，andboldly。“MrCarson!Iwanttospeaktoyouforonceandforall。SinceImetyoulastMondayevening，Ihavemadeupmymindtohavenothingmoretodowithyou。IknowI’vebeenwronginleadingyoutothinkIlikedyou；butIbelieveIdidn’trightlyknowmyownmind；andIhumblybegyourpardon，sir，ifI’veledyoutothinktoomuchofme。Foraninstanthewassurprised；thenext，vanitycametohisaid，andconvincedhimthatshecouldonlybejoking。He，young，agreeable，rich，handsome!No!shewasonlyshowingalittlewomanlyfondnessforcoquetting。“You’readarlinglittlerascaltogooninthisway!’Humblybeggingmypardonifyou’vemademethinktoomuchofyou。’Asifyoudidn’tknowIthinkofyoufrommorningtonight。Butyouwanttobetolditagainandagain，doyou？““No，indeed，sir，Idon’t。Iwouldfarlieferthatyoushouldsayyouwouldneverthinkofmeagain，thanthatyoushouldspeakofmeinthisway。
Forindeed，sir，IneverwasmoreinearnestthanIam，whenIsayto-nightisthelastnightIwilleverspeaktoyou。“Lastnight，yousweetlittleequivocator，butnotlastday。Ha，Mary，I’vecaughtyou，haveI？“asshe，puzzledbyhisperseveranceinthinkingherjoking，hesitatedinwhatformshecouldnowputhermeaning。“Imean，sir，“shesaidsharply，“thatIwillneverspeaktoyouagain，atanytime，afterto-night。““Andwhat’smadethischange，Mary？“saidhe，seriouslyenoughnow。“HaveIdoneanythingtooffendyou？“addedhe，earnestly。“No，sir，“sheansweredgently，butyetfirmly。“IcannottellyouexactlywhyI’vechangedmymind；butIshallnotalteritagain；and，asIsaidbefore，IbegyourpardonifI’vedonewrongbyyou。Andnow，sir，ifyouplease，goodnight。““ButIdonotplease。Youshallnotgo。WhathaveIdone，Mary？Tellme。
YoumustnotgowithouttellingmehowIhavevexedyou。Whatwouldyouhavemedo？““Nothing，sir，but“inanagitatedtone，“oh!letmego!Youcannotchangemymindit’squitemadeup。Oh，sir!whydoyouholdmesotight？IfyouwillknowwhyIwon’thaveanythingmoretodowithyou，itisthatIcannotloveyou。Ihavetried，andIreallycannot。“Thisnaiveandcandidavowalservedherbutlittle。Hecouldnotunderstandhowitcouldbetrue。Somereasonlurkedbehind。Hewaspassionatelyinlove。Whatshouldhedototempther？Athoughtstruckhim。“Listen!Mary。Nay，Icannotletyougotillyouhaveheardme。Idoloveyoudearly；andIwon’tbelievebutwhatyoulovemeaverylittle，justaverylittle。Well，ifyoudon’tliketoownit，nevermindIonlywantnowtotellyouhowmuchIloveyou，bywhatIamreadytogiveupforyou。Youknoworperhapsyouarenotfullyawarehowlittlemyfatherandmotherwouldlikemetomarryyou。Soangrywouldtheybe，andsomuchridiculeshouldIhavetobrave，thatofcourseIhaveneverthoughtofittillnow。Ithoughtwecouldbehappyenoughwithoutmarriage。“DeepsankthosewordsintoMary’sheart。“Butnow，ifyoulike，I’llgetalicenceto-morrowmorning——nay，to-night，andI’llmarryyouindefianceofalltheworld，ratherthangiveyouup。Inayearortwomyfatherwillforgiveme，andmeanwhileyoushallhaveeveryluxurymoneycanpurchase，andeverycharmthatlovecandevisetomakeyourlifehappy。Afterall，mymotherwasbutafactorygirl。“Thiswassaidtohimself，asiftoreconcilehimselftothisboldstep。“Now，Mary，youseehowwillingI
amto——tosacrificeagooddealforyou；Ievenofferyoumarriage，tosatisfyyourlittleambitiousheart；sonow，won’tyousay，youcanlovemealittle，littlebit？“Hepulledhertowardshim。Tohissurprise，shestillresisted。YesIthoughallshehadpicturedtoherselfforsomanymonthsinbeingthewifeofMrCarsonwasnowwithinhergrasp，sheresisted。Hisspeechhadgivenherbutonefeeling，thatofexceedinggreatrelief。Forshehaddreaded，nowsheknewwhattruelovewas，tothinkoftheattachmentshemighthavecreated；thedeepfeelingherflirtingconductmighthavecalledout。Shehadloadedherselfwithreproachesforthemiseryshemighthavecaused。
Itwasarelief，togatherthattheattachmentwasofthatlow，despicablekindwhichcanplantoseducetheobjectofitsaffection；thatthefeelingshehadcausedwasshallowenoughforitonlypretendedtoembraceself；