This, and much more of the same tenor, failed to bring a light upon
Eve's countenance. At length she asked suddenly, with a defiant
bluntness----

"Have you ever thought what sort of a wife I am likely to make?"

Hilliard tried to laugh, but was disagreeably impressed by her words
and the look that accompanied them.

"I have thought about it, to be sure," he answered carelessly

"And don't you feel a need of courage?"

"Of course. And not only the need but the courage itself."

"Tell me the real, honest truth." She bent forward, and gazed at him
with eyes one might have thought hostile. "I demand the truth of
you: I have a right to know it. Don't you often wish you had never
seen me?"

"You 're in a strange mood."

"Don't put me off. Answer!"

"To ask such a question," he replied quietly, "is to charge me with
a great deal of hypocrisy. I did _once_ all but wish I had never
seen you. If I lost you now I should lose what seems to me the
strongest desire of my life. Do you suppose I sit down and meditate
on your capacity as cook or housemaid? It would be very prudent and