But, before declaring myself to your daughter, or asking her
hand of you, I have desired to see whether it were possible to inspire
her with love for a man so much older than herself. For, much as I love
her, I would not seek to marry her without a return of love--not mere
respect, esteem, or gratitude. That is the problem I have been waiting
to solve."
A confession to this effect was on the tip of his tongue. To have made
it, would have been like tearing open his breast and showing his heart.
But he would have made it, whatever the pain, if, on looking nervously
up from the letter, which he had now finished, he had not met the cold,
searching eyes of the inventor. He instantly shut his lips upon the
outcoming confession, and said, with as much indifference as he could
awkwardly assume:
"I hope, sir, you have taken the trouble to investigate these ridiculous
charges." But Marcus inwardly hoped he had not.
"I have sir," responded the inventor, gravely. "Had the accusations been
vague, like those in the first letter from this unknown person, I should
have dismissed them from my mind with a laugh.
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