Nor, in her turn, did Dolly consider her mother; for
within two months another matter of controversy between Dolly and
Carter was as to who had first proposed to the other. Carter
protested there never had been any formal proposal, that from the
first they had both taken it for granted that married they would
be. But Dolly insisted that because he had been afraid of her
money, or her mother, he had forced her to propose to him.
"You could not have loved me very much," she complained, "if you'd
let a little thing like money make you hesitate."
"It's not a little thing," suggested Carter. "They say it's several
millions, and it happens to be YOURS. If it were MINE, now!"
"Money," said Dolly sententiously, "is given people to make them
happy, not to make them miserable."
"Wait until I sell my stories to the magazines," said Carter, "and
then I will be independent and can support you."
The plan did not strike Dolly as one likely to lead to a hasty
marriage. But he was sensitive about his stories, and she did not
wish to hurt his feelings.
"Let's get married first," she suggested, "and then I can BUY you
a magazine. We'll call it CARTER'S MAGAZINE and we will print
nothing in it but your stories. Then we can laugh at the editors!"
"Not half as loud as they will," said Carter.
With three thousand dollars in bank and three stories accepted and
seventeen still to hear from, and with Dolly daily telling him that
it was evident he did not love her, Carter decided they were ready,
hand in hand, to leap into the sea of matrimony.
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