"Oh, you know how he is," said Cora. "He didn't speak of it
exactly. But after you'd gone, he asked me----" She stopped with a
little gulp, an expression of keen distaste about her mouth.

"Oh, he wants me to wear my ring," she continued, with sudden
rapidity: "and how the dickens _can_ I when I can't even tell him
it's been made into a pendant! He wants to speak to father; he
wants to _announce_ it. He's sold out his business for what he
thinks is a good deal of money, and he wants me to marry him next
month and take some miserable little trip, I don't know where, for
a few weeks, before he invests what he's made in another business.
Oh!" she cried. "It's a _horrible_ thing to ask a girl to do: to
settle down--just housekeeping, housekeeping, housekeeping
forever in this stupid, stupid town! It's so unfair! Men are just
possessive; they think it's loving you to want to possess you
themselves. A beautiful `love'! It's so mean! Men!" She sprang up
and threw out both arms in a vehement gesture of revolt. "Damn
'em, I wish they'd let me _alone_!"

Laura's eyes had lost their quiet; they showed a glint of tears,
and she was breathing quickly. In this crisis of emotion the two
girls went to each other silently; Cora turned, and Laura began to
unfasten Cora's dress in the back.

"Poor Richard!" said Laura presently, putting into her mouth a
tiny pearl button which had detached itself at her touch. "This
was his first evening in the overflow. No wonder he was troubled!"

"Pooh!" said Cora. "As if you and mamma weren't good enough for