"
"The deuce take his promotion! Let's think of--_her_."
"That's just what I thought you'd do, Peter; and with all your
advantages--"
"Drop that, Drusilla," he commanded. "You know you don't mean it. You
know as well as I do that I haven't a chance--even if I wanted
one--which I don't. You're not thinking of me--or of her. You're
thinking of him--and how to get him out of a match that won't tend to
his advancement."
"I'm thinking of every one, Peter--of every one but myself, that is. I'm
thinking of him, and her, and you--"
"Then you'll do me a favor if you leave me out."
She sprang to her feet, her little figure looking slim and girlish.
"I can't leave you out, Peter, when you're the Hamlet of the piece.
That's nonsense. I'm not plotting or planning on any one's behalf. It
isn't my temperament. I only say that if this--this affair--didn't come
off--though I suppose it will--I feel sure it will--yet if it
didn't--then, with all your advantages--and after what you've done for
her--"
He strode forward, almost upsetting the tea-table beside which she
stood. "Look here, Drusilla. You may as well understand me once for all.
I wouldn't marry a girl who took me because of what I'd done for her,
not if she was the last woman in the world.
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