Page:A Literary Courtship (1893).pdf/117

 Lilian declared she did not want a dog as handsome as Cop. I told her how fond she would get of him, and she said that was just the trouble. She knew Cop would never have loved another mistress, and she did not wish to love another dog, for the present at least. It would be too cold-blooded. Afterward she relented so far as to beg me to buy him for myself. She said she would steel her heart against him. Of course I didn't want him. What should I do with a dog? They are a great care."

"Don't you think she would have got fond of him?" I asked. For this was truly interesting. A girl who would not have another dog would be just the girl to cherish a hopeless affection. Besides which, here was more circumstantial evidence in the case. I remembered a particularly taking poem "To Cop."

Mrs. Ellerton was saying: "Why, no! She wouldn't have allowed herself to grow fond of the new dog. She said she wouldn't."