“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——