Otherwise, I do not
feel like sharing my affairs with him; I do not want to drag
Jessamine Hynds out of her grave to gratify his curiosity. For he
has the curiosity of a cat, along with the obstinacy of a mule."
I smiled, wanly. "I gather that I'm not to tell him anything. What
further?" I wanted to know, not without irony.
"This, then: that you keep on being engaged to me."
I looked at him incredulously.
"For the time being, Sophy, submit to my tentative claim. If you
decide to let your--ah--common sense induce you to make what must be
called a brilliant marriage, tell me, and I will go at once. In the
meantime, Sophy, I am your friend, to whom your happiness is as dear
as his own. Will you believe that?"
It was not in me to doubt him. "Yes," I said. "And if--the lady you
told me about--you understand--you will tell me, too, will you not?
I should like to know, for your happiness is as much to me as mine
could possibly be to you."
"That's the most promising thing you've said yet," he said. "All
right, Sophy: the minute I find out she cares more for me than she
does for anybody else, I shall certainly let you know. In the
meanwhile, don't let being engaged bear too heavily on your spirits.
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