Jane shivered.

"I know, I know," she said, "and oh! Leonard, I hate him!"

"Then perhaps it will be as well not to marry him," he answered.

"I would rather die first," she said with conviction.

"Unfortunately one can't always die when it happens to be convenient,
Jane."

"Oh! Leonard, don't be horrid," she said, beginning to cry. "Where are
you going, and what shall I do?"

"To the bad probably," he answered. "At least it all depends upon you.
Look here, Jane, if you will stick to me I will stick to you. The luck
is against me now, but I have it in me to see that through. I love you
and I would work myself to death for you; but at the best it must be a
question of time, probably of years."

"Oh! Leonard, indeed I will if I can. I am sure that you do not love
me more than I love you, but I can never make you understand how odious
they all are to me about you, especially Papa."

"Confound him!" said Leonard beneath his breath; and if Jane heard, at
that moment her filial affections were not sufficiently strong to induce
her to remonstrate.

"Well, Jane," he went on, "the matter lies thus: either you must put
up with their treatment or you must give me the go-by. Listen: in six