"Is there any other man whom my darling expects to marry?" he
asked, and Edith was glad he put the question in this form, as
without prevarication she could promptly answer,
"No, Richard, there is none."
"Then you may learn to love me," Richard said. "I can wait, I can
wait; but must it be very long? The days will be so dreary, and I
love you so much that I am lost if you refuse. Don't make my
darkness darker, Edith."
He laid his head upon her lap, still kneeling before her, the
iron-willed man kneeling to the weak young girl, whose hands were
folded together like blocks of lead, and gave him back no
answering caress, only the words,
"Richard, I can't. It's too sudden. I have thought of you always
as my elder brother, Be my brother, Richard. Take me as your
sister, won't you?"
"Oh, I want you for my wife," and his voice was full of pleading
pathos. "I want you in my bosom, I need you there, darling. Need
some one to comfort me. I've suffered so much, for your sake, too.
Oh, Edith, my early manhood was wasted; I've reached the autumn
time, and the gloom which wrapped me then in its black folds lies
around me still, and will you refuse to throw over my pathway a
single ray of sunlight? No, no, Edith, you won't, you can't.
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