Then he strode up and down half a dozen times repeating the last three
words over and over again. His thoughts took a new turn.

"It's simply folly, and you have no right to give in to it. You have
your own way to make. You have no right to ask mother for more than the
fifteen hundred she says you are to have as an allowance, for you know
that if she gave you more, it would be only by scrimping herself. What
is fifteen hundred a year to such a girl? Why, her father would think I
was joking!"

Then Peter looked out on the leaden waters and wished it was not
cowardly to end the conflict by letting them close over him. The dark
color made him think, however, of a pair of slate-colored eyes, so
instead of jumping in, he repeated "I can't wait" a few times, and
walked with redoubled energy. Having stimulated himself thereby, he went
on thinking.

"She has been so kind to me that--no--she can't care for me. But if
she--if by chance--if--supposing she does! Why, the money is nothing. We
can wait."

Peter repeated this last remark several times, clearly showing that he
made a great distinction between "I can wait" and "We can wait."
Probably the same nice distinction has been made before, and lovers have
good authority for the distinction, for many an editor's public "We
think" is the exact opposite of his private "I think." Then Peter
continued:

"Of course I shall have difficulty with Mr. Pierce. He's a worldly man.
That's nothing, though, if she cares for me. If she cares for me?"