Page:Willa Cather - The Song of the Lark.djvu/475

 "That 's what I congratulate you on. That 's the great difference between your kind and the rest of us. It 's how long you 're able to keep it up that tells the story. When you needed enthusiasm from the outside, I was able to give it to you. Now you must let me withdraw."

"I 'm not tying you, am I?" she flashed out. "But withdraw to what? What do you want?"

Fred shrugged. "I might ask you, What have I got? I want things that would n't interest you; that you probably would n't understand. For one thing, I want a son to bring up."

"I can understand that. It seems to me reasonable. Have you also found somebody you want to marry?"

"Not particularly." They turned another curve, which brought the wind to their backs, and they walked on in comparative calm, with the snow blowing past them. "It 's not your fault, Thea, but I 've had you too much in my mind. I 've not given myself a fair chance in other directions. I was in Rome when you and Nordquist were there. If that had kept up, it might have cured me."

"It might have cured a good many things," remarked Thea grimly.

Fred nodded sympathetically and went on. "In my library in St. Louis, over the fireplace, I have a property spear I had copied from one in Venice,—oh, years ago, after you first went abroad, while you were studying. You 'll probably be singing Brünnhilde pretty soon now, and I 'll send it on to you, if I may. You can take it and its history for what they 're worth. But I 'm nearly forty years old, and I 've served my turn. You 've done what I hoped for you, what I was honestly willing to lose you for—then. I 'm older now, and I think I was an ass. I would n't do it again if I had the chance, not much! But I 'm not sorry. It takes a great many people to make one—Brünnhilde."

Thea stopped by the fence and looked over into the