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Rh since the day I met you first, and I shall never love another."

I saw his face change all of a sudden, he looked like one inspired, and when he spoke again his voice was sweet and mellow.

"Have you told your father this?"

I was surprised at his question. "How can I say this to my father?" I replied. "I only told him that I wished to remain unmarried, that marriage would not make me happy."

"And his reply?"

"He told me I must marry. Poor father, how can I disobey him? Is it not my duty to make him happy?"

"But do you owe no duty to love, do you owe no duty to yourself, nor yet to the man who cannot face life without you? Ought you to sacrifice your life and his to some misconceived idea of duty? I really do not think your father would force you into marriage with another if he once came to know how the matter stands."

I knew that what he said was only too true, but I did not reply until he spoke again, with an air of impatience this time.

"If you cannot speak to your father, let me do so."