“Sitdown，Crawford，“shesaidgently。“Sitdownandtellmeallaboutit。“
Hetoldher。Therewaslittlemoretotellthanhehadwritten。
HisfatherhadnotbecomemorereconciledtotheideaofhismarryingMary。Insteadhisoppositionwasjustasviolentand，tohisson’smind，asunreasonablyabsurd。DayafterdayCrawfordwaited，hopingthattimewouldbringachangeorthathisownargumentsmighthaveaneffect，butneithertimenorargumentsoftenedEdwinSmith’sobstinacy。
“Hebehavedlikeamadmanattimes，“declaredCrawford。“Andatothershewouldalmostbegmeonhiskneestogiveyouup。Iaskedhimwhy。Itoldhimoverandoveragainthatheshouldbeproudtohavesuchagirlforhisdaughter-in-law。IsaideverythingI
could。ItoldhimIwoulddoanythingforhim——anythingheasked——
exceptgiveyouup。ThatIwouldnotdo。Anditwastheonlythingheseemedtowishmetodo。Talkedaboutbringingshameanddisgraceonhisheadandmine——andallsortsofwildnonsense。WhenIaskedwhathemeantbydisgracehecouldnottellme。Ofcoursehecouldn’t。“
Thatwastrue，ofcoursehecouldnottell。Maryknew，andsherealizedoncemorethetortureswhichthemanmusthavesuffered，mustbesufferingatthatmoment。
“Soatlastweparted，“saidCrawford。“Ileftword——leftalettersayingthat，sofarasIcouldsee，itwasbestthatIwentaway。
Wecouldnotagreeapparently，heandI，upontheonepointwhich，asIsawit，wasthemostimportantdecisionofmylife。AndIhadmadethatdecision。ItoldhimhowmuchIhatedtoleavehim；thatIlovedhimasmuchasIeverdid。’But，’Isaid，’Ishallnotgiveupmyhappinessandmyfuturemerelytogratifyyourunreasonablewhim。’ThenIcameawayandstartedEasttoyou。“
Hepaused，evidentlyexpectingMarytomakesomecommentoraskaquestion，butshewassilent。Afteramomenthewenton。
“Ihaven’tmadeanydefiniteplansasyet，“hesaid。“IhaveanotheryearattheMedicalSchool——orshouldhaveit。IamhopingthatImaybeabletogobacktotheHarvardMed。hereinBostonandworkmywaythrough。OtherchapshavedoneitandI’msureIcan。
Andafterthat——well，afterthatImusttakemychanceatfindingalocationandapractice，likeanyotheryoungM。D。Butfirstofall，Mary，Iwantyoutotellmethatyouwillwaitforme。It’salottoask；Iknowhowmuch。Butwillyou，Marydear？That’swhatI’vecomeherefor——togetyoutosaythatyouwill。AfterthatI
canfaceanything——yes，andwinout，too。“
Marylookedathim。Hisfacewasaglowwithearnestnessandhisvoiceshookashefinishedspeaking。Heroseandheldouthishands。
“Willyou，Mary？“hebegged。
Shelookedathimnolonger。Shewasafraidtodoso——afraidofherownweakness。Butnosignofthatweaknessshoweditselfinhertoneassheanswered。
“I’msorry，Crawford，“shesaid，gently。“IwishIcould，butI
can’t。“
“Can’t！Can’twaitforme？“
“Icouldwaitforyou，itisn’tthat。Ifitweremerelyaquestionofwaiting——ifthatwereall——howeasyitwouldbe！Butitisn’t。
Crawford，youmustgobacktoyourfather。Youmustgobacktohimandforgetallaboutme。Youmust。“
Hestaredatherforamoment。Thenhelaughed。
“Forgetyou！“herepeated。“Mary，areyou——“
“Oh，please，Crawford！Don’tmakethisanyharderforbothofusthanithastobe。Youmustgobacktoyourfatherandyoumustforgetme。Icannotmarryyou，Ican’t。“
Hecametowardher。
“But，Mary，“hecried，“I——I——OfcourseIknowyoucan’t——now。I
knowhowyoufeelaboutyourdutytoyouruncles。Iknowtheyneedyou。Iamnotaskingthatyouleavethem。Iaskonlythatyousayyouwillwaituntil——untilbyandby，when——“
“Please，Crawford！No，Ican’t。“
“Mary！You——Oh，butyoumustsayit！Don’ttellmeyoudon’tloveme！“
Shewassilent。Heputhishandsuponhershoulders。Shecouldfeelthemtremble。
“Don’tyouloveme，Mary？“herepeated。“Lookup！Lookatme！
DON’Tyouloveme？“
Shedidnotlookup，butsheshookherhead。
“No，Crawford，“shesaid。“I’mafraidnot。Notenough。“
Sheheardhimcatchhisbreath，andshelonged——Oh，howshelonged！——
tothrowherarmsabouthim，tellhimthatitwasallalie，thatshedidlovehim。Butsheforcedherselfnottothinkofherownlove，onlyofthosewhomshelovedandwhatdisgraceandshameandmiserywouldcomeuponthemifsheyielded。
“Notenough？“sheheardhimrepeatslowly。“You——youdon’tloveme？
Oh，Mary！“
Sheshookherhead。
“Iamsorry，Crawford，“shesaid。“Ican’ttellyouhowsorry。
Please——pleasedon’tthinkhardlyofme，nottoohardly。Iwish——I
wishitweredifferent。“
Neitherspokeforamoment。Thenhesaid：
“I’mafraidIdon’tunderstand。Istheresomeoneelse？“
“Oh，no，no！Thereisn’tanyone。“
“Then——Butyoutoldme——Youhaveletmethink——“
“Please！ItoldyouIwasnotsureofmyownfeelings。I——Iamsurenow。Iamsosorryyoucame。Ishouldhavewrittenyou。I
hadbeguntheletter。“
Againsilence。Thenhelaughed，ashort，bitterlaughwithanythingbutmirthinit。
“Iamafool，“hesaid。“WHATafoolIhavebeen！“
“Please，Crawford，don’tspeakso……Oh，whereareyougoing？“
“I？Idon’tknow。WhatdifferencedoesitmakewhereIgo？Good-
by。“
“Stop，Crawford！Wait！Itmakesadifferencetoyourfatherwhereyougo。Itmakesadifferencetome。I——Ivalueyourfriendshipveryhighly。IhopedImightkeepthat。Ihopedyouwouldletmebeyourfriend，eventhoughtheothercouldnotbe。Ihopedthat。“
Theminutebeforeshehadaskedhimtoforgether，butshedidnotrememberthat，nordidhe。Hewasstandingbythedoor，lookingout。Foramomenthestoodthere。Thenheturnedandheldouthishand。
“Forgiveme，Mary，“hesaid。“Ihavebehavedlikeacad，I’mafraid。Whenafellowhasbeenbuildingaircastlesandallatoncetheytumbledownuponhisheadhe——well，heislikelytoforgetotherthings。Forgiveme。“
Shetookhishand。Shecouldkeepbackthetearsnolonger；hereyesfilled。
“Thereisnothingformetoforgive，“shesaid。“Ifyouwillforgiveme，thatisallIask。And——andletmestillbeyourfriend。“
“Ofcourse。Blessyou，Mary！I——Ican’ttalkanymorenow。
You’ll——“withanattemptatasmile——“you’llhavetogivemealittletimetogetmybearings，asyourUncleShadwouldsay。“
“And——andwon’tyougobacktoyourfather？Ishallfeelsomuchhappierifyoudo。“
Hehesitated。Thenhenodded。
“Ifyouwishit——yes，“hesaid。“IsupposeitisthethingIoughttodo。Dadwillbehappy，atanyrate。Oh，Mary，CAN’Tyou？“
“No，Crawford，no。Yes，yourfatherwillbehappy。And——andbyandbyyouwillbe，too，Iknow。Areyougoing？“
“Yes，IthinkIhadbetter。Idon’tfeellikemeetinganyoneandyourUncleShadwillbeheresoon，Isuppose。Yourmanhere——
Isaiah——toldmeofMr。Hamilton’ssickness。I’msorry。“
“Yes，poorUncleZoeth！Heisgainingalittle，however。Crawford，Iwon’taskyoutostay。Perhapsitwillbebestforbothofusifyoudonot。Butwon’tyouwritemejustoncemore？Justtotellmethatyouandyourfatherarereconciled？Ishouldliketoknowthat。Anddoforgiveme——Oh，do！IHADtosayit，Crawford！“
“Iforgiveyou，Mary。Ofcourseyouhadtosayit……But