“Iamgoingoutbyandby。IamgoingtodineandspendtheeveningwithBarbaraHowe。ButIamnotgoingyet。Won’tyousitdown？“
“Iwillifyou’resureyoucansparethetime。Ihopeyoucan，because——well，becauseIdowanttotalktoyou。I’vehadbadnewsfromhome。Myfatherisill——andinthedoctor’scare。“
“Oh，I’msosorry。Ihopeitisn’tserious。“
“Idon’tknowwhetheritisornot。Itcan’tbedesperatelyserious，becausehewrotetheletterhimself。Butatanyrateit’sseriousenoughforme。HewantsmetogiveupmyworkhereattheHarvardMedicalandcomeWest。“
Marygasped。“Giveitup！“sherepeated。“Giveupyourstudies？
Giveupmedicine？Surelyhedoesn’twantyoutodothat！“
Crawfordshookhishead。“No，notquitethat，“hereplied。“I
wouldn’tdothat，evenforhim。Buthewritesthatheisnotwellandisnotlikelytobebetterforagoodwhile，ifever，andhewouldbeverymuchhappierifIwerenearerathand。HewantsmetogiveuphereattheHarvardMed。andtakeupmyworkagainatDenverorSaltLakeCityorsomewhereoutthere。EvenChicagowouldseemmuchnearer，hesays。It’sapitifulsortofletter。Theoldchapseemsdreadfullydowninthedumps。Hewantsme，that’splainenough，andheseemstothinkheneedsme。SaysifIwereatDenverIcouldcomehomeeverylittlewhile，whereashereIcan’t。WhatoughtItodo？Ihatetosayno，andIhatejustasmuchtosayyes。“
Maryconsidered。
“Ithinkyoumustdecideforyourself，“shesaidafteramoment。
“Youhaveyourcareertoconsider，ofcourse。“
“Yes，Ihave。But，tobeperfectlyhonest，IsupposemycareerwouldnotbeinfluencedgreatlyifIwent。ThereareplentyofgoodmedicalcollegesintheWest。ItisonlythatIamaHarvardmanandIhopedtofinishattheHarvardschool，thatisall。ButI
COULDgo。Whatdoyouadvise？“
AgainMarytooktimeforconsideration。Herfacenowwasasgraveashis。Atlastshesaid，withoutraisinghereyes：“Ithinkyououghttogo。“
Hegroaned。“Iwasafraidyouwouldsaythat，“headmitted。“AndI
supposeyouareright。“
“Yes，IthinkIam。Ifyourfatherneedsyouandwantsyou，andifyourcareerwillnotbeinfluencedforharm，I——well，Ithinkyoushoulddoashewishes。“
“Andmyownwishesshouldn’tcount，Isuppose？“
“Why，no，notinthiscase；notmuch，atanyrate。Doyouthinktheyshould？“
“Perhapsnot。But——butyours？“
“Mine？“
“Yes。DoYOUwantmetogoaway？“Heleanedforwardinhischairandrepeatedearnestly：“Doyou，Mary？“
Shelookedathimandhereyesfellbeforethelookinhis。Herheartbegantobeatquicklyandsheglancedapprehensivelytowardthepartlyopeneddoor。Heroseandclosedit。Thenhecameclosetoher。
“Mary，“hesaid，earnestly，“doyouknowwhythisappealofDad’shashitmesoveryhard？Whyitisgoingtobesomightydifficulttosayyesandleavehere？Itisn’tbecauseIhatetogiveupHarvard。Idohatethat，ofcourse，butI’ddoitinaminuteforDad。Itisn’tthat。It’sbecauseIcan’t——Ijustcan’tthinkofleavingyou。Youhavecometobe——“
Sheinterrupted。“Pleasedon’t，“shebegged。“Please！“
Hewenton，unheeding：
“Youhavecometomeanaboutallthereisinlifeforme，“hedeclared。“Itisn’tmoneyorsuccessorreputationI’vebeenworkingandpluggingfortheselastfewmonths；it’sjustyou。I
didn’tthinksoonce——Iusedtothinksuchthingswerejustinbooks——butnowIknow。Iloveyou，Mary。“
Againsheprotested。“Oh，Crawford，“shebegged，“please！“
“No；you’vegottohearme。It’strue；Iloveyou，andifyoucancareforme，Iamgoingtomarryyou。Notnow，ofcourse；I’vegotmywaytomakefirst；butsomeday，ifIlive。“
Histeethsetinthedeterminedfashionshehadlearnedtoknowmeantunswervingpurpose。Shelookedup，sawtheexpressionofhisface，andfortheinstantforgoteverythingexceptherprideinhimandherjoythatsheshouldhaveawakenedsuchfeelings。Thensherememberedotherthings，thingswhichshehadspentmanyhoursofmanynightsindebatingandconsidering。Ashebenttowardhersheevadedhimandrose。
“Don’t，Crawford！Please！“shesaidagain。“Youmustn’tsaysuchthingstome。Itisn’trightthatyoushould。“
Helookedpuzzled。“Whynot？“heasked。“Atanyrate，rightorwrong，Imustsaythem，Mary。I’vebeenholdingtheminformonthsandnowI’vejustgottosaythem。IloveyouandIwanttomarryyou。MayI？“
“Oh，no，Crawford！No！Itisimpossible。“
“Impossible！Why？Isit——isitbecauseyoudon’tcareforme？
Don’tyou，Mary？“
Shedidnotanswer。
“Don’tyou？“herepeated。“Lookatme！Can’tyoucare，Mary？“
Shewassilent。Butwhenhetookasteptowardhersheraisedherhandsinprotest。
“Pleasedon’t！“shepleaded。“No，youmustn’t——wemustn’tthink——
Oh，no，itisimpossible！“
“Itisn’timpossible。IfyoulovemeasIdoyouitistheonlypossiblethingintheworld。Listen，dear——“
“Hush！Imustn’tlisten。Besensible，Crawford！think！Wearebothsoyoung。Youareonlybeginningyourstudies。Itwillbeyearsbeforeyoucan——beforeyoushouldconsidermarrying。“
“Butwecanwait。Iamwillingtowaitifyouwillonlypromisetowaitforme。I’llwork——HOWI’llwork！——and——“
“Iknow，butwebothhaveothersbesidesourselvestoconsider。I
havemyuncles。Theyhavedoneeverythingforme。Andyouhaveyourfather。Doesheknow——aboutme——aboutwhatyouhavejustsaidtome？“
AndnowCrawfordhesitated。Notlong，butlongenoughforMarytoknowwhattheanswerwouldbebeforeitwasspoken。
“Hedoesn’tknow，“shesaid。“Ithoughtnot。Doyouthinkhewillapprove？“
“Ihopehewill。Thereiseveryreasonwhyheshouldandabsolutelynonewhyheshouldn’t。Ofcoursehe’llapprove；he’ssensible。“
“Yes，buthemayhaveplansofhisownforyou，andyourmarryinganEasterngirlmaynotbeoneofthem。YouhaveoftentoldmehowprejudicedheisagainsttheEastandEasternpeople。Hemaydisapprovestrongly。“
Crawfordsquaredhisshoulders。Therewasnohesitationordoubtinhisnextspeech。
“Ifhedoesitwillmakenodifference，“hedeclared。“IcareawholelotforDadandI’ddoanythingonearthforhim——anythingbuttheonething，thatis：Iwon’tgiveyouup——providedyoucareforme——forhimorforanyoneelse。That’sfinal。“
Hecertainlylookedasifitwere。ButMaryonlyshookherhead。
Inthenewthoughtsandnewimaginingswhichhadcometoherduringthepastwintertherehadbeenavagueforeshadowingofapossiblesituationsomewhatlikethis。Shehadheranswerready。
“Oh，no，itisn’t，“shesaid。“Youarehisson，hisonlychild，Crawford。Hecaressomuchforyou。Youhaveoftentoldmethat，and——andIknowhemust。Andyouandhehavebeensohappytogether。DoyouthinkIwouldbethecauseofbreakingthatrelationship？“
Hewavedthequestionasideandaskedoneofhisown。
“Doyouloveme，Mary？“heasked。
“Youmustn’taskme，Crawford。Writeyourfather。Tellhimeverything。Willyou？“
“Yes，Iwill。Ishouldhavedoneit，anyway。IfIgohome，andI
supposeImust，Ishalltellhim；itwillbebetterthanwriting。
ButIwantyouranswerbeforeIgo。Won’tyougiveittome？“
Helookedveryhandsomeandverymanly，ashestoodtherepleading。
ButMaryhadmadeuphermind。
“Ican’t，Crawford，“shesaid。“PerhapsIdon’tknow。Idoknowthatitwouldnotberightformetosaywhatyouwantmetosay——
now。Gohometoyourfather；heneedsyou。Tellhimeverythingandthen——writeme。“
Helookedather，along，longlook。Thenhenoddedslowly。
“Allright，“hesaid；“Iwill。IwilltellhimthatImeantomarryyou。Ifhesaysyes——ashewill，I’msure——thenI’llwriteyouthat。Ifhesaysno，I’llwriteyouthat。Butineithercase，MaryLathrop，Ishallmarryyoujustthesame。Yourownnowillbetheonlythingthatcanpreventit。AndnowmayIcomeandseeyoutomorrowevening？“
“Nottomorrow，Crawford。Whenwillyoustartforhome？“
“Saturday，Ithink。MayIcomethedayaftertomorrow？Justtosaygood-by，youknow。“
Marywastroubled。Shecouldnotdenyhimandyetshewascertainitwouldbebetterforthembothifhedidnotcome。
“Perhaps，“shesaiddoubtfully。“Butonlytosaygood-by。Youmustpromisethat。“
Therewasaringatthebell。ThenMaggie，themaid，appearedtoannouncethattheHowemotorcarwaswaitingatthecurb。AfewmomentslaterMarywasinherroomadjustinghernewhatbeforethemirror。Ordinarily，adjustingthathatwouldhavebeenanabsorbingandpainstakingperformance；justnowitwasdonewithscarcelyathought。HowdevoutlyshewishedthattheHowecarandtheHowedinnerwerewaitingforanyoneinthewideworldbuther！Shedidnotwishtomeetstrangers；shedidnotwishtogoanywhere，aboveallshedidnotwishtoeat。Thatevening，ofalleveningsinherlife，shewishedtobealone。However，acceptedinvitationsareimpliedobligationsandMary，havingadjustedthehat，gavehereyesafinaldabwithahandkerchiefandcoldwaterandhasteneddowntoanswerthecalltosocialmartyrdom。
Itwasnotexcruciatingtorture，thatdinnerintheHowedining-
room，eventoayoungladywhohadjustlistenedtoaproposalofmarriageanddesiredtothinkofnothinglessimportant。Mr。Howewasbigandjolly。Mrs。Howewasgray-hairedandgraciousandBarbarawas——Barbara。Also，therewasafriendofMr。Howe’s，anelderlygentlemannamedGreen，whoitseemedwasoneofafirmofwholesalegrocersdowntown，andwhotoldfunnystoriesand，bywayofprovingthattheywerefunny，laughedheartiestofallattheendingofeach。HesatnextMrs。Howeduringdinner，butlater，whentheywereallinthehandsomedrawing-room，hecameoverandseatedhimselfuponthesofanextMaryandenteredintoconversationwithher。
“YouarenotabornBostonian，Iunderstand，MissLathrop，“heobserved。“Animportation，eh？Ho，ho！Yes。Well，howdoyoulikeus？“
Marysmiled。“Oh，IlikeBostonverymuch，Mr。Green，“sheanswered。“IknowitbetterthananyotherAmericancity，perhapsthatiswhy。ItwastheonlycityIhadeverseenuntilquiterecently。Iamimported——asyoucallit——fromnotsofaraway。MyhomeisonCapeCod。“
Mr。Greenregardedherwithinterest。
“So？“hesaid。“FromCapeCod，eh？That’sratherpeculiar。IhavebeenverymuchinterestedintheCapeforthepastdayorso。
SomethinghasoccurredinconnectionwithmybusinesswhichbroughttheCapetomind。Myattentionhasbeen——er——asyoumaysay，grippedbythestrongrightarmofMassachusetts。Eh？Ho，ho！“
Hechuckledathisownjoke。Marywasratherbored，butshetriednottoshowit。
“WhatpartoftheCapehasinterestedyou，Mr。Green？“sheinquiredforthesakeofsayingsomething。