myself. And she had the support of the priests."

"It is my misfortune that M. de Rezanov is not
a Catholic, but it will make no difference. I shall
not fall ill, for I am like you, not like my dear
mother--and the education you have given me is
very different from hers. But I shall marry his
excellency or no one, and whether I marry him or
live alone with the thought of him until the end of
my mortal days, I do not believe that my soul will
be imperilled in the least."

"You do not!" shouted the irate Spaniard. "How
dare you presume to decide such a question for
yourself? What does a woman know of love until
she marries? It is nothing but a sickening imag-
ination before; and if the man goes, the doctor soon
comes."

"You may not have intended--but you have
taught me to think for myself. And I have seen
others besides M. de Rezanov--the flower of Cali-
fornia and more than one fine gentleman from
Mexico. I will have none of them. I will marry
the man of my choice or no one. It may be that I
know naught of love. If you wish, you may think
that my choice of a husband is determined by ambi-
tion, that I am dazzled with the thought of court
life in St. Petersburg, of being the consort of a
great and wealthy noble. It matters not. Love or