"'Alas!' exclaimed Liao, with many unfeigned manifestations of an
unbearable fate, 'to what degree do the class and position of her
entirely unnecessary parents affect the question? or how little hope
can this sacrilegious one reasonably have of ever progressing as far
as earthly details of a pecuniary character in the case of so adorable
and far-removed a Being? The uttermost extent of this wildly-hoping
person's ambition is that when the incomparably symmetrical Ts'ain
learns of the steadfast light of his devotion, she may be inspired to
deposit an emblematic chrysanthemum upon his tomb in the Family
Temple. For such a reward he will cheerfully devote the unswerving
fidelity of a lifetime to her service, not distressing her gentle and
retiring nature by the expression of what must inevitably be a
hopeless passion, but patiently and uncomplainingly guarding her
footsteps as from a distance.'
"Being in this manner made aware of the reason of Liao's frequent and
unrestrained exclamations of intolerable despair, and of his fixed
determination with regard to the maiden Ts'ain (which seemed, above
all else, to indicate a resolution to shun her presence) Quen could
not regard the immediately-following actions of his son with anything
but an emotion of confusion.
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