"
"And why have you ventured to break your word to your friend?" she
asked, calmly. "Surely you are touching upon my life now, in spite
of your promise."
"Because I am willing to sacrifice my word to his welfare," I
retorted; "to try to make you understand how you are blocking the
path of a mighty fine-minded man by your devotion to what you call
your independence. He will never ask you to do anything that he
knows will be revolting to you, and until he has succeeded in
pleasing you to the last page of his book he will never write again.
I have done this in the hope of persuading you, at the cost even of
some personal discomfort, not to rebel against his gentle leadership-
-to fall in with his ideas until he can fulfil this task of his,
whether it be realism or pure speculation on his part. If you do
this, Stuart is saved. If you do not, literature will be called upon
to mourn one who promises to be one of its brightest ornaments."
I stopped short. Miss Andrews was gazing pensively out over the
mirror-like surface of the Lake.
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