“And do I not love you?  Have I not offered to be to you in all respects as a sister?”

“That is nothing.  Such an offer to me now is simply laughing at me.  Bell, I tell you what,—­I will not give you up.  The fact is, you do not know me yet,—­not know me as you must know any man before you choose him for your husband.  You and Lily are not alike in this.  You are cautious, doubtful of yourself, and perhaps, also, somewhat doubtful of others.  My heart is set upon this, and I shall still try to succeed.”

“Ah, Bernard, do not say that!  Believe me, when I tell you that it can never be.”

“No; I will not believe you.  I will not allow myself to be made utterly wretched.  I tell you fairly that I will not believe you.  I may surely hope if I choose to hope.  No, Bell, I will never give you up,—­unless, indeed, I should see you become another man’s wife.”

As he said this, they all turned in through the squire’s gate, and rode up to the yard in which it was their habit to dismount from their horses.

CHAPTER XIV

John Eames Takes a Walk

John Eames watched the party of cavaliers as they rode away from his mother’s door, and then started upon a solitary walk, as soon as the noise of the horses’ hoofs had passed away out of the street.  He was by no means happy in his mind as he did so.  Indeed, he was overwhelmed with care and trouble, and as he went along very gloomy thoughts passed through his mind.  Had he not better go to Australia, or Vancouver’s Island, or—?  I will not name the places which the poor fellow suggested to himself as possible terminations of the long journeys which he might not improbably be called upon to take.  That very day, just before the Dales had come in, he had received a second letter from his darling Amelia, written very closely upon the heels of the first.  Why had he not answered her?  Was he ill?  Was he untrue?  No; she would not believe that, and therefore fell back upon the probability of his illness.  If it was so, she would rush down to see him.  Nothing on earth should keep her from the bedside of her betrothed.  If she did not get an answer from her beloved John by return of post, she would be down with him at Guestwick by the express train.  Here was a position for such a young man as John Eames!  And of Amelia Roper we may say that she was a young woman who would not give up her game, as long as the least chance remained of her winning it.  “I must go somewhere,” John said to himself, as he put on his slouched hat and wandered forth through the back streets of Guestwick.  What would his mother say when she heard of Amelia Roper?  What would she say when she saw her?