like to say nothing
more. But I must tell you as well that I am quite a poor man; I am an
absolute pauper; I have nothing at all--no money, no work, nothing. My
studio and all must go back to her; and yet, Iris, in spite of this, I
am so selfish as to tell you that I love you. I would give you, if I
could, the most delightful palace in the world, and I offer you a
share in the uncertain life of an artist, who does not know whether he
has any genius, or whether he is fit even to be called an artist."

She gave him her hand with the frankness which was her chief charm,
and with a look in her eyes so full of trust and truth that his heart
sunk within him for very fear lest he should prove unworthy of so much
confidence.

"Oh, Arnold," she said, "I think that I have loved you all along, ever
since you began to write to me. And yet I never thought that love
would come to me."

He led her into that bosky grove set with seats convenient for lovers,
which lies romantically close to the Italian Restaurant, where they
sell the cocoa and the ginger beer. There was no one in the place
besides themselves, and here, among the falling leaves, and in a
solitude as profound as on the top of a Dartmoor tor, Arnold told the
story of his love again, and with greater coherence, though even more
passion.

"Oh," said Iris again, "how could you love me, Arnold--how could you
love any girl so? It is a shame, Arnold; we are not worth so much.
Could any woman," she thought, "be worth the wealth of passion and
devotion which her lover poured out for her?"

"My tutor," he went on, "if you only knew what things you have taught
me, a man of experience! If I admired you when I thought you must be a
man, and pictured an old scholar full of books and wisdom, what could
I do when I found that a young girl had written those letters? You
gave mine back to me; did you think that I would ever part with yours?
And you owned--oh, Iris, what would not the finished woman of the
world give to have the secret of your power?--you owned that you knew
all my letters, every one, by heart. And after all, you will love me,
your disciple and pupil, and a man who has his way to make from the
very beginning and first round of the ladder. Think, Iris, first. Is
it right to throw away so much upon a man who is worth so little?"

"But I am glad that you are poor. If you were rich I should have been
afraid--oh, not of you, Arnold--never of you, but of your people. And,