human
Of course, dear, she said,
gpt
But I don't love him.
human
You will in time. A young girl never knows her own heart, any more than she knows the world.
gpt
Mother, that isn't all. It would be a sin to him to pretend to give him a heart that was not his. I can't; I can't.
human
My dear child, that is his affair. He is willing to trust you, and to win your love. When we act from a sense of duty the way is apt to open to us. I have never told you of my own earlier experience. I was not so young as you are when I married Mr. Henderson, but I had not been without the fancies and experiences of a young girl. I might have yielded to one of them but for family reasons. My father had lost his fortune and had died, disappointed and broken down. My mother, a lovely woman, was not strong, was not capable of fighting the world alone, and she depended upon me, for in those days I had plenty of courage and spirit. Mr. Henderson was a widower whom we had known as a friend before the death of his accomplished wife. In his lonesomeness he turned to me. In our friendlessness I turned to him. Did I love him? I esteemed him, I respected him, I trusted him, that was all. He did not ask more than that. And what a happy life we had! I shared in all his great plans. And when in the midst of his career, with such large ideas of public service and philanthropy, he was stricken down, he left to me, in the confidence of his love, all that fortune which is some day to be yours. Mrs. Mavick put her handkerchief to her eyes.
gpt
Ah, well, our destiny is not in our hands. Heaven raised up for me another protector, another friend. Perhaps some of my youthful illusions have vanished, but should I have been happier if I had indulged them? I know your dear father does not think so.
human
Mother, cried Evelyn, deeply moved by this unprecedented confidence,
gpt
I cannot bear to see you suffer on my account. But must not every one decide for herself what is right before God?