I had not waited so long, for settling my hat on my head, I set off up
the road as fast as my legs would carry me. It seemed to me I should
never reach the house, and I cursed the folly which had taken me so far
away, but at last I ran up the steps and into the hall. As I entered, I
caught a glimpse of a well-known gown in the hall above, and in an
instant I was up the stairs.

"Dorothy!" I gasped, seizing one of her hands, "Dorothy, tell me, you
have told him no?"

I must have been a surprising object, covered with dust and breathless,
but she leaned toward me and gave me her other hand.

"Yes, Tom," she said very softly, "I told him no. I do not love him, Tom,
and I could not marry a man I do not love."

"Oh, Dorothy," I cried, "if you knew how glad I am! If you knew how I
was raging along the river at the very thought that he was asking you,
and fearing for your reply; for he is a very fine fellow, Dorothy," and
I realized with amazement that all my resentment and anger against
Newton had vanished in an instant. "But when I saw him ride by like a
madman, I knew you had said no, and I came back as fast as I could to
make certain."

Somehow, as I was speaking, I had drawn her toward me, and my arm was
around her.

"Can you not guess, dear Dolly," I whispered "why I was so angry with
him last night? It was because I knew he was going to ask you, and I
feared that you might say yes."

I could feel her trembling now, and would have bent and kissed her, but
that she sprang from me with a little frightened cry, and I turned to see
her mother standing in the hall below.

"So," she said, mounting the steps with an ominous calmness, "my daughter
sees fit to reject the addresses of Mr. Newton and yet receive those of
Mr. Stewart. I perceive now why he was so deeply concerned in what I had
to tell him this morning. May I ask, Mr. Stewart, if you consider
yourself a good match for my daughter?"

"Good match or not, madame," I cried, "I love her, and if she will have
me, she shall be my wife!"

"Fine talk!" she sneered. "To what estate will you take her, sir? On
what income will you support her? My daughter has been accustomed to a
gentle life."

"And if I have no estate to which to take her," I cried, "if I have no
income by which to support her, remember, madame, that it is from choice,
not from necessity!"

I could have bit my tongue the moment the words were out. Her anger had
carried her further than she inte