Page:Charlotte Teller - The Cage (1907).djvu/103

FROM MRS. SCANLAN'S good, because I could keep him interested in the work over there."

"You must only marry for the sake of your own happiness," said Eugene; and after a pause, with a little effort, he said: "Perhaps he could make you happy."

Frederica put down her cup with a gesture of remonstrance. "I shall never marry for happiness," she said. "That would be selfish, and I do not want to think about myself, but about others."

Harden spoke definitely, leaning toward her. "Then do not marry at all. It would make you think about yourself. You could not help it."

"Anne says that he needs me."

"But do you need him?"

She raised her eyes with the light of new self-knowledge in them.

"No," she said, "I don't need him. Is that the test you make for loving?"

The waiter came with the bill, and Frederica thought her question might go unanswered, but Harden spoke as the waiter left. "I do not know what test I should make." He looked thoughtfully at the flowers on their table, and she became aware of his silence over these things. Never before had their conversation even touched on romance.

She spoke impulsively. "Is it because you love your work that you don't want to love anyone and do not want anyone to love you?"

"How is it that you know that?" He looked into her eyes with a sort of fear in his which she felt. She wished she had not spoken.

"I don't know," she said. "But the roots of your heart grow way down into a love for people. You would 93