Now it is time to speak truthfully. I admire and like
you very much, but I have a will of my own, am nobody's puppet, and
if Stuart Harley never writes another book in his life, he shall not
marry me to a man I do not love; and, frankly, I do not love you. I
do not know if you are aware of the fact, but it is true nevertheless
that you are the third fiance he has tried to thrust upon me since
July 3d. Like the others, if you insist upon blindly following his
will, and propose marriage to me, you shall go by the board. I have
warned you, and you can now do as you please. You were saying--?"
"That I love you with all my soul," said Parker, grimly.
("He didn't really love her then, you know," said Harley. "He'd been
cured of that in five minutes. But I was resolved that he should say
it, and he did. That's how he came to say it grimly. He did it just
as a soldier rushes up to the cannon's mouth. He added, also:")
"Will you be my wife?"
"Most certainly not," said Marguerite, turning on her heel, and
leaving the young man to finish his walk alone.
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