Don't alarm yourself--absolutely nothing. Three months ago
when I spoke to you of marriage, you entreated me to allow you a
little time in which to accustom yourself to my proposal. That time of
probation, which has been, I hope, equally trying to us both, has ended
to-day."
"But I don't think I really love you, Mr. Mullen."
"I trust your eyes rather than your words--and your eyes have told me,
all unconsciously to yourself, your secret."
"Well, I do love your sermons, but---"
"My sermons are myself. There is nothing in my life, I trust, that
belies my preaching."
"I know how good you are, but honestly and truly, I don't want to marry
anybody."
His smile hardened slowly on his face like an impression on metal that
cools into solidity. From the beginning he had conducted his courtship,
as he had conducted his sacred office, with the manner of a gentleman
and the infallibility of an apostle. Doubt of his perfect fitness for
either vocation had never entered his head. Had it done so he would
probably have dismissed it as one of the insidious suggestions of the
lower man--for the lower man was a creature who habitually disagreed
with his opinions and whom his soul abhorred.
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