Page:Willa Cather - The Song of the Lark.djvu/340

 "Yes; I understand. I don't mind that. I don't want to marry your family. I 'm sure you would n't want to marry mine. But I don't see why we have to go so far."

"When we get to Winslow, you look about the freight yards and you 'll probably see several yellow cars with my name on them. That 's why, my dear. When your visiting-card is on every beer bottle, you can't do things quietly. Things get into the papers." As he watched her troubled expression, he grew anxious. He leaned forward on his camp-chair, and kept twirling the handbag between his knees. "Here 's a suggestion, Thea," he said presently. "Dismiss it if you don't like it: suppose we go down to Mexico on the chance. You 've never seen anything like Mexico City; it will be a lark for you, anyhow. If you change your mind, and don't want to marry me, you can go back to Chicago, and I 'll take a steamer from Vera Cruz and go up to New York. When I get to Chicago, you 'll be at work, and nobody will ever be the wiser. No reason why we should n't both travel in Mexico, is there? You 'll be traveling alone. I 'll merely tell you the right places to stop, and come to take you driving. I won't put any pressure on you. Have I ever?" He swung the bag toward her and looked up under her hat.

"No, you have n't," she murmured. She was thinking that her own position might be less difficult if he had used what he called pressure. He clearly wished her to take the responsibility.

"You have your own future in the back of your mind all the time," Fred began, "and I have it in mine. I 'm not going to try to carry you off, as I might another girl. If you wanted to quit me, I could n't hold you, no matter how many times you had married me. I don't want to over-persuade you. But I 'd like mighty well to get you down to that jolly old city, where everything would please you, and give myself a chance. Then, if you thought you could have a better time with me than without me, I 'd try to grab you