“Ofcourse，“sheansweredsimply，“becauseImust。Oh!whateverwemayhearabouteachother，wemaybequitecertainthatwestillloveeachother——becausewemust——andallyourheavenandhellcannotmakeanydifference，no，notiftheywerebothtojoinforcesandtrytheirbest。Butthatdoesnotmeanthatnecessarilyweshallmarryeachother，forIthinkthatpeoplewholovelikethatrarelydomarry，because，yousee，theywouldbetoohappy，whichsomethingisalwaystryingtoprevent。Itmaymean，however，“sheaddedreflectively，“thatweshallnotmarryanybodyelse，thougheventhatmighthappeninyourcase——notinmine。Alwaysremember，Godfrey，thatIshallnevermarryanybodyelse，notevenifyoutookthreewivesoneaftertheother。“
“Threewives!“gaspedGodfrey。
“Yes，whynot？Itwouldbequitenatural，wouldn’tit，ifyouwouldn’tmarryme，andevenproper。OnlyIshouldnevertakeone——husband，I
mean——notfromanyparticularvirtue，butjustbecauseIcouldn’t。Yousee，itwouldmakemeill。AndifItriedIshouldonlyrunaway。“
“Oh!stoptalkingnonsense，“saidGodfrey，“whensosoonyouwillhavetogotoseeaboutthosepeople，“andheheldouthisarms。