Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/216

 turned, Gordon; if it had been Peggy that was rich, do you suppose she'd have considered any one else?" "Don't make it harder," he muttered.

Leona laughed scornfully. "You're all cowards, my dear Gordon, every last one of you, in the final assay."

"Is it cowardice to consider my duty, my father's wishes, my mother's happiness?"

"Yes! It's always cowardice to break a woman's heart rather than overstep conventions!"

"I don't speak of conventions. Conventions be damned! But my mother"

"Your mother would be disappointed, Gordon; she might even be very unhappy for, let us say, six months, although that's a liberal estimate. To save that you send poor Peggy into exile with—well, hearts don't break, Gordon, but I've a notion they fracture; and the doctors say a fracture is worse than a break. My dear, men are brave enough physically; I dare say you'd have gone through fire and water for her; but they're arrant cowards morally. Gordon, if I cared for a man who was poor or disgraced or anything else do you think I'd fold my arms like Napoleon at