erably, ''I am sorry. For I have not told him yes. How can I? My uncle— My uncle will never give me up. It wants four years until I am twenty-one. How can I ask Mr Rivers to wait so long?''
Of course, we had guessed she''d think that. We had hoped that she would; for in thinking it she''d be all the more ready to run and be married in secret. I said, carefully, Are you sure, about your uncle?''
She nodded. ''He will not spare me, so long as there are books still, to be read and noted; and there will always be those! Besides, he is proud. Mr Rivers, I know, is a gentleman''s son, but—''
''But your uncle won''t think him quite enough a swell?''
She bit her lip. ''I''m afraid that if he knew Mr Rivers had asked for my hand, he would send him from the house. But then, he must go anyway, when his work here is finished! He must go—'' Her voice shook. ''And how will I see him, then? How may you keep a heart, for four years, like that?''
She put her hands to her face and wept in earnest. Her shoulders jumped. It was awful to see. I said, ''You mustn''t cry.'' I touched her cheek, putting the damp hair from it. I said, ''Truly, miss, you mustn''t cry. Do you think Mr Rivers will give you up now? How could he? You mean more to him than anything. Your uncle will come round, when he sees that.''
''My happiness is nothing to him,'' she said. ''Only his books! He has made me like a book. I am not meant to be taken, and touched, and liked. I am meant to keep here, in a dim light, for ever!''