Besides，Ishallbeoverhereagainbeforeyougo。I’malwaysonmyguardagainstsymptomsofdropsy。Ihaveknownitsupervene。’’ThenIshallnotseeMollyagain！’saidRoger，inatoneandwithalookofgreatdisappointment。MrGibsonturnedhiskeen，observanteyesupontheyoungman，andlookedathiminaspenetratingamannerasifhehadbeenbeginningwithanunknownillness。Thenthedoctorandthefathercompressedhislipsandgaveventtoalongintelligentwhistle。’Whew！’saidhe。Roger’sbronzedcheekstookadeepershade。’Youwilltakeamessagetoherfromme，won’tyou？Amessageoffarewell？’
hepleaded。’NotI。I’mnotgoingtobeamessage—carrierbetweenanyyoungmanandyoungwoman。I’lltellmywomankindIforbadeyoutocomenearthehouse，andthatyou’resorrytogoawaywithoutbiddinggood—by。That’sallI
shallsay。’’Butyoudonotdisapprove？—Iseeyouguesswhy。Oh！MrGibson，justspeaktomeonewordofwhatmustbeinyourheart，thoughyouarepretendingnottounderstandwhyIwouldgiveworldstoseeMollyagainbeforeIgo。’’Mydearboy！’saidMrGibson，moreaffectedthanhelikedtoshow，andlayinghishandonRoger’sshoulder。Thenhepulledhimselfup，andsaidgravelyenough，—’Mind，MollyisnotCynthia。Ifsheweretocareforyou，sheisnotonewhocouldtransferherlovetothenextcorner。’’YoumeannotasreadilyasIhavedone，’repliedRoger。’IonlywishyoucouldknowwhatadifferentfeelingthisistomyboyishloveforCynthia。’’Iwasn’tthinkingofyouwhenIspoke；but，however，asImighthaverememberedafterwardsthatyouwerenotamodelofconstancy，letushearwhatyouhavetosayforyourself。’’Notmuch。IdidloveCynthiaverymuch。Hermannersandherbeautybewitchedme；butherletters，—short，hurriedletters，—sometimesshowingthatshereallyhadn’ttakenthetroubletoreadminethrough，—Icannottellyouthepaintheygaveme！Twelvemonths’solitude，infrequentdangerofone’slife—facetofacewithdeath—sometimesagesamanlikemanyyears’experience。StillIlongedforthetimewhenIshouldseehersweetfaceagain，andhearherspeak。ThentheletterattheCape！—andstillIhoped。ButyouknowhowIfoundher，whenIwenttohavetheinterviewwhichItrustedmightendintherenewalofourrelations，—engagedtoMrHenderson。Isawherwalkingwithhiminyourgarden，coquettingwithhimaboutaflower，justassheusedtodowithme。IcanseethepityinglookinMolly’seyesasshewatchedme；Icanseeitnow。AndIcouldbeatmyselfforbeingsuchablindfoolasto——Whatmustshethinkofme？
howshemustdespiseme，choosingthefalseDuessa。’’Come，come！Cynthiaisn’tsobadasthat。She’saveryfascinating，faultycreature。’’Iknow！Iknow！Iwillneverallowanyonetosayawordagainsther。
IfIcalledherthefalseDuessaitwasbecauseIwantedtoexpressmysenseofthedifferencebetweenherandMollyasstronglyasIcould。Youmustallowforalover’sexaggeration。Besides，allIwantedtosaywas，—DoyouthinkthatMolly，afterseeingandknowingthatIhadlovedapersonsoinferiortoherself，couldeverbebroughttolistentome？’’Idon’tknow。Ican’ttell。AndevenifIcould，Iwouldnot。Onlyifit’sanycomforttoyou，Imaysaywhatmyexperiencehastaughtme。Womenarequeer，unreasoningcreatures，andarejustaslikelyasnottoloveamanwhohasbeenthrowingawayhisaffection。’’Thankyou，sir！’saidRoger，interruptinghim。’Iseeyoumeantogivemeencouragement。AndIhadresolvednevertogiveMollyahintofwhatIfelttillIreturned，—andthentotryandwinherbyeverymeansinmypower。Ideterminednottorepeattheformersceneintheformerplace，—inyourdrawing—room，—howeverImightbetempted。Andperhaps，afterall，sheavoidedmewhenshewasherelast。’’Now，Roger，I’velistenedtoyoulongenough。Ifyou’venothingbettertodowithyourtimethantotalkaboutmydaughter，Ihave。Whenyoucomebackitwillbetimeenoughtoenquirehowfaryourfatherwouldapproveofsuchanengagement。’’Hehimselfurgedituponmetheotherday—butthenIwasindespair—Ithoughtitwastoolate。’’Andwhatmeansyouarelikelytohaveofmaintainingawife，—IalwaysthoughtthatpointwaspassedtoolightlyoverwhenyouformedyourhurriedengagementtoCynthia。I’mnotmercenary，—Mollyhassomemoneyindependentlyofme，—thatshebythewayknowsnothingof，—notmuch；—andIcanallowhersomething。Butallthesethingsmustbelefttillyourreturn。’’Thenyousanctionmyattachment？’’Idon’tknowwhatyoumeanbysanctioningit。Ican’thelpit。Isupposelosingone’sdaughterisanecessaryevil。Still，’—seeingthedisappointedexpressiononRoger’sface—’itisbutfairtoyoutosayI’drathergivemychild，—myonlychild，remember！—toyou，thantoanymanintheworld！’’Thankyou！’saidRoger，shakinghandswithMrGibson，almostagainstthewillofthelatter。’AndImayseeher，justonce，beforeIgo？’’Decidedlynot。ThereIcomeinasdoctoraswellasfather。No！’’Butyouwilltakeamessage，atanyrate？’’Tomywifeandtoherconjointly。Iwillnotseparatethem。Iwillnotintheslightestwaybeago—between。’’Verywell，’saidRoger。’TellthembothasstronglyasyoucanhowIregretyourprohibition。IseeImustsubmit。ButifIdon’tcomeback，I’llhauntyouforhavingbeensocruel。’’Come，Ilikethat。Givemeawisemanofscienceinlove！Noonebeatshiminfolly。Good—by。’’Good—by，YouwillseeMollythisafternoon！’’Tobesure。Andyouwillseeyourfather。ButIdon’theavesuchportentoussighsatthethought。’MrGibsongaveRoger’smessagetohiswifeandtoMollythateveningatdinner。Itwasbutwhatthelatterhadexpected，afterallherfatherhadsaidoftheverygreatdangerofinfection；butnowthatherexpectationcameintheshapeofafinaldecision，ittookawayherappetite。Shesubmittedinsilence；butherobservantfathernoticedthatafterthisspeechofhis，sheonlyplayedwiththefoodonherplate，andconcealedagooddealofitunderherknifeandfork。’Loverversusfather！’thoughthe，halfsadly。’Loverwins。’Andhe，too，becameindifferenttoallthatremainedofhisdinner。MrsGibsonpatteredon；andnobodylistened。ThedayofRoger’sdeparturecame。MollytriedhardtoforgetitinworkingawayatacushionshewaspreparingasapresenttoCynthia；peopledidworsted—workinthosedays。One，two，three。One，two，three，four，five，six，seven；allwrong；shewasthinkingofsomethingelse，andhadtounpickit。Itwasarainyday，too；andMrsGibson，whohadplannedtogooutandpaysomecalls，hadtostayindoors。Thismadeherrestlessandfidgety。