下载辰思小说免费APP
Hewasholdingbothherhandsnow，andthoughshetriedtowithdrawthem，hewouldnotlether。
“Willyou？“hepleaded。
“Ican’t，“sheansweredbrokenly。“Ican’t。Thinkofyourchurchandofyourpeople。Whatwouldtheysayif——“
“Idon’tcarewhattheysay。“
“Oh！yes，youdo。Notnow，perhaps，butlateryouwill。Youdon’tknowTrumetasIknowit。No，it’simpossible。“
“Itellyouthereisonlyoneimpossiblething。ThatisthatI
giveyouup。Iwon’tdoit。ICAN’Tdoit！Grace，thisislifeanddeathforme。Mychurch——“
Hepausedinspiteofhimself。Hischurch，hisfirstchurch！Hehadacceptedthecallwithprideandadeterminationtodohisbest，theverybestthatwasinhim，forthesocietyandforthepeoplewhomhewastolead。Someofthosepeoplehehadlearnedtolove；manyofthem，hefeltsure，lovedhim。Hissuccess，hispopularity，thegrowthoftheorganizationandthepraisewhichhadcometohimbecauseofit，allthesehadmeant，andstillmeant，verymuchtohim。Nowonderhepaused，butthepausewasmomentary。
“Mychurch，“hewenton，“ismyworkandIlikeit。IbelieveI’vedonesomegoodhereandIhopetodomore。ButnochurchshallsaywhomIshallmarry。Ifyoucareforme，Grace，asIthinkandhopeyoudo，we’llfacethechurchandthetowntogether。andtheywillrespectusforit。“
Sheshookherhead。
“Someofthemmightrespectyou，“shesaid。“Theywouldsayyouhadbeenledintothisbymeandwerenotsomuchtoblame。ButI——“
“Theyshallrespectmywife，“heinterrupted，snappinghisteethtogether，“orI’llknowthereasonwhy。“
Shesmiledmournfully。
“Ithinkthey’lltellyouthereason，“sheanswered。“No，John，no！wemustn’tthinkofit。Youcanseewemustn’t。Thishasallbeenamistake，adreadfulmistake，andIamtoblameforit。“
“Theonlymistakehasbeenourmeetinginthisway。Weshouldhavemetopenly；Irealizeit，andhavefeltitforsometime。Itwasmyfault，notyours。Iwasafraid，Iguess。ButI’llnotbeacowardanylonger。Come，dear，let’snotbeafraidanotherday。Onlysayyou’llmarrymeandI’llproclaimitopenly，to-night——Yes，fromthepulpit，ifyousayso。“
Shehesitatedandhetookcouragefromherhesitation。
“Sayit，“hepleaded。“YouWILLsayit？“
“Ican’t！Ican’t！Myuncle——“
“Youruncleshallhearitfromme。We’llgotohimtogether。I’lltellhimmyself。Heworshipsyou。“
“Yes，Iknow。Hedoesworshipme。That’swhyIamsurehehadratherseemedeadthanmarriedtoyou，aRegular，andaRegularminister。“
“Idon’tbelieveit。Hecan’tbesounreasonable。Ifheis，thenyoushouldn’thumorsuchbigotry。“
“Hehasbeenmyfatherforyears，andadear，kindfather。“
“Iknow。That’swhyI’msocertainwecanmakehimunderstand。
Come，dear！come！Whyshouldyouconsidereveryoneelse？Consideryourownhappiness。Considermine。“
Shelookedathim。
“Iamconsideringyours，“shesaid。“ThatiswhatIconsidermostofall。And，asforuncle，Iknow——IKNOWhewouldneverconsent。
Hisheartissetonsomethingelse。Nat——“
“Nat？Areyouconsideringhim，too？IsHEtostandbetweenus？
Whatrighthashetosay——“
“Hush！hush！Hehasn’tsaidanything。But——butheandunclehavequarreled，justalittle。Ididn’ttellyou，buttheyhave。AndI
thinkIknowthereason。NatisUncleEben’sidol。Ifthequarrelshouldgrowmoreserious，Ibelieveitwouldbreakhisheart。I
couldn’tbeartobethecauseofthat；Ishouldneverforgivemyself。“
“Youthecause？Howcouldyoubethecauseofaquarrelbetweenthosetwo？Grace，thinkofme。“
Herewastheselfishnessofmanandtheunselfishnessofwomananswered。
“John，“shesaid，“itisofyouIamthinking。Everythingelsecould——mightbeovercome，perhaps。ButImustthinkofyourfutureandyourlife。IMUST。Thatiswhy——“
Hedidnotwaittohearmore。Heseizedherinhisarmsandkissedher。
“ThenyouDOcare！“hecriedjoyfully。“Youwillmarryme？“
Foraninstantshelayquietinhis
后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节
