“No; a prudent girl, shaming his unreasonableness by her self-control.”

“I have read somewhere,” said Irene, “that all men are self-willed tyrants—­the words do not apply to you, my father, and so there is an exception to the rule.”  She smiled a tender smile as she looked into the face of a parent who had ever been too indulgent.  “But, from my experience with a lover, I can well believe the sentiment based in truth.  Hartley must have me think just as he thinks, and do what he wants me to do, or he gets ruffled.  Now I don’t expect, when I am married, to sink into a mere nobody—­to be my husband’s echo and shadow; and the quicker I can make Hartley comprehend this the better will it be for both of us.  A few rufflings of his feathers now will teach him how to keep them smooth and glossy in the time to come.”

“You are in error, my child,” replied Mr. Delancy, speaking very seriously.  “Between those who love a cloud should never interpose; and I pray you, Irene, as you value your peace and that of the man who is about to become your husband, to be wise in the very beginning, and dissolve with a smile of affection every vapor that threatens a coming storm.  Keep the sky always bright.”

“I will do everything that I can, father, to keep the sky of our lives always bright, except give up my own freedom of thought and independence of action.  A wife should not sink her individuality in that of her husband, any more than a husband should sink his individuality in that of his wife.  They are two equals, and should be content to remain equals.  There is no love in subordination.”

Mr. Delancy sighed deeply:  “Is argument of any avail here?  Can words stir conviction in her mind?” He was silent for a time, and then said—­

“Better, Irene, that you stop where you are, and go through life alone, than venture upon marriage, in your state of feeling, with a man like Hartley Emerson.”

“Dear father, you are altogether too serious!” exclaimed the warm-hearted girl, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him.  “Hartley and I love each other too well to be made very unhappy by any little jar that takes place in the first reciprocal movement of our lives.  We shall soon come to understand each other, and then the harmonies will be restored.”

“The harmonies should never be lost, my child,” returned Mr. Delancy.  “In that lies the danger.  When the enemy gets into the citadel, who can say that he will ever be dislodged?  There is no safety but in keeping him out.”

“Still too serious, father,” said Irene.  “There is no danger to be feared from any formidable enemy.  All these are very little things.”

“It is the little foxes that spoil the tender grapes, my daughter,” Mr. Delancy replied; “and if the tender grapes are spoiled, what hope is there in the time of vintage?  Alas for us if in the later years the wine of life shall fail!”

There was so sad a tone in her father’s voice, and so sad an expression on his face, that Irene was touched with a new feeling toward him.  She again put her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly.