almost to a whisper.

The doctor lifted his head from his palm and
walked quickly toward her. The suffering in her
voice had robbed him of all resentment.

"Forgive me, I did not mean it. Tell me," he
said, in a sudden burst of tenderness--all feeling
about himself had dropped away--"why must you
go so soon? Why not wait until spring?" He had
taken his seat beside her now and sat looking into
her eyes.

"Lucy wants to go at once," she replied, in a
tone as if the matter did not admit of any discussion.

"Yes, I know. That's just like her. What she
wants she can never wait a minute for, but she certainly
would sacrifice some pleasure of her own to
please you. If she was determined to be a musician
it would be different, but it is only for her pleasure,
and as an accomplishment." He spoke earnestly
and impersonally, as he always did when she consulted
him on any of her affairs, He was trying, too,
to wipe from her mind all remembrance of his impatience.

Jane kept her eyes on the carpet for a moment,
and then said quietly, and he thought in rather a
hopeless tone: