asked his cousin to marry him,—­having assured himself with certainty that he did love her better than any other woman,—­and she had declined.  She had refused him more than once, and he believed her implicitly when she told him that she could not love him.  He had a way of believing people, especially when such belief was opposed to his own interests, and had none of that self-confidence which makes a man think that if opportunity be allowed him he can win a woman even in spite of herself.  But if it were fated that he should not succeed with Henrietta, then,—­so he felt assured,—­no marriage would now be possible to him.  In that case he must look out for an heir, and could regard himself simply as a stop-gap among the...