better look for it soon, or he ll have to deal with me. Little girl,
your honesty and pluck have made me a friend, and that s rarer than a
lover; it s more unselfish anyhow. My dear, I m going to have a pretty
lonely walk between this and Kingdom Come. Won t you give me one kiss?
It ll be something to keep off the darkness now and then. You can, you
know, if you like, for that other good fellow--he must be a good fellow,
my dear, and a fine fellow, or you could not love him--hasn t spoken
yet. That quite won me, Mina, for it _was_ brave and sweet of him, and
noble, too, to a rival--wasn t it?--and he so sad; so I leant over and
kissed him. He stood up with my two hands in his, and as he looked down
into my face--I am afraid I was blushing very much--he said:--
Little girl, I hold your hand, and you ve kissed me, and if these
things don t make us friends nothing ever will. Thank you for your sweet
honesty to me, and good-bye. He wrung my hand, and taking up his hat,
went straight out of the room without looking back, without a tear or a
quiver or a pause; and I am crying like a baby. Oh, why must a man like
that be made unhappy when there are lots of girls about who would
worship the very ground he trod on? I know I would if I were free--only
I don t want to be free. My dear, this quite upset me, and I feel I
cannot write of happiness just at once, after telling you of it; and I
don t wish to tell of the number three until it can be all happy.
Ever your loving
LUCY.
P.S.--Oh, about number Three--I needn t tell you of number Three, need
I? Besides, it was all so confused; it seemed only a moment from his
coming into the room till both his arms were round me, and he was
kissing me. I am very, very happy, and I don t know what I have done to
deserve it. I must only try in the future to show that I am not
ungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a
lover, such a husband, and such a friend.
Good-bye.
_Dr. Seward s Diary._
61