"
"Quite so; and I think I may say that with a little time--let us say a
year--we shall be able to meet--"
"It's a good bit of money," Davenant warned him.
"I know that; but if you'll give us a little leeway--as I know you
will--"
"He means," Olivia spoke up, "that he'll sell his property--and whatever
else he has--and pay you."
"I don't want that," Davenant said, hastily.
"But I do. It's a point of honor with me not to let another man
shoulder--"
"And it's a point of honor with me, Rupert--"
"To stand by me," he broke in, quickly.
"I can't see it that way. What you propose is entirely against my
judgment. It's fantastic; it's unreal. I want you to understand that if
you attempted to carry it out I shouldn't marry you. Whatever the
consequences either to you or to me--_I shouldn't marry you_."
"And if I didn't attempt it? Would you marry me then?"
She looked up, then down, then at Davenant, then away from him. Finally
she fixed her gaze on Ashley.
"Yes," she said at last. "If you'll promise to let this wild project
drop, I'll marry you whenever you like. I'll waive all the other
difficulties--"
Davenant came forward, his hand outstretched.
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