"Love you!" she exclaimed, with a movement of irrepressible loathing.
"You must be mad! I would rather die than marry you!"
Mr. Dyceworthy's face grew livid and his little eyes sparkled
vindictively,--but he restrained his inward rage, and merely smiled,
rubbing his hands softly one against the other.
"Let us be calm!" he said soothingly. "Whatever we do, let us be calm!
Let us not provoke one another to wrath! Above all things, let us, in a
spirit of charity and patience, reason out this matter without undue
excitement. My ears have most painfully heard your last words, which,
taken literally, might mean that you reject my honorable offer. The
question is, _do_ they mean this? I cannot,--I will not believe that you
would foolishly stand in the way of your own salvation,"--and he shook
his head with doleful gentleness. "Moreover, Froeken Thelma, though it
sorely distresses me to speak of it,--it is my duty, as a minister of
the Lord, to remind you that an honest marriage,--a marriage of virtue
and respectability such as I propose, is the only way to restore your
reputation,--which, alas! is sorely damaged, and--"
Mr.
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