“Sitdown，Crawford，“shesaidgently。“Sitdownandtellmeallaboutit。“
　　Hetoldher。Therewaslittlemoretotellthanhehadwritten。
　　HisfatherhadnotbecomemorereconciledtotheideaofhismarryingMary。Insteadhisoppositionwasjustasviolentand，tohisson’smind，asunreasonablyabsurd。DayafterdayCrawfordwaited，hopingthattimewouldbringachangeorthathisownargumentsmighthaveaneffect，butneithertimenorargumentsoftenedEdwinSmith’sobstinacy。
　　“Hebehavedlikeamadmanattimes，“declaredCrawford。“Andatothershewouldalmostbegmeonhiskneestogiveyouup。Iaskedhimwhy。Itoldhimoverandoveragainthatheshouldbeproudtohavesuchagirlforhisdaughter-in-law。IsaideverythingI
　　could。ItoldhimIwoulddoanythingforhim——anythingheasked——
　　exceptgiveyouup。ThatIwouldnotdo。Anditwastheonlythingheseemedtowishmetodo。Talkedaboutbringingshameanddisgraceonhisheadandmine——andallsortsofwildnonsense。WhenIaskedwhathemeantbydisgracehecouldnottellme。Ofcoursehecouldn’t。“
　　Thatwastrue，ofcoursehecouldnottell。Maryknew，andsherealizedoncemorethetortureswhichthemanmusthavesuffered，mustbesufferingatthatmoment。
　　“Soatlastweparted，“saidCrawford。“Ileftword——leftalettersayingthat，sofarasIcouldsee，itwasbestthatIwentaway。
　　Wecouldnotagreeapparently，heandI，upontheonepointwhich，asIsawit，wasthemostimportantdecisionofmylife。AndIhadmadethatdecision。ItoldhimhowmuchIhatedtoleavehim；thatIlovedhimasmuchasIeverdid。’But，’Isaid，’Ishallnotgiveupmyhappinessandmyfuturemerelytogratifyyourunreasonablewhim。’ThenIcameawayandstartedEasttoyou。“
　　Hepaused，evidentlyexpectingMarytomakesomecommentoraskaquestion，butshewassilent。Afteramomenthewenton。
　　“Ihaven’tmadeanydefiniteplansasyet，“hesaid。“IhaveanotheryearattheMedicalSchool——orshouldhaveit。IamhopingthatImaybeabletogobacktotheHarvardMed。hereinBostonandworkmywaythrough。OtherchapshavedoneitandI’msureIcan。
　　Andafterthat——well，afterthatImusttakemychanceatfindingalocationandapractice，likeanyotheryoungM。D。Butfirstofall，Mary，Iwantyoutotellmethatyouwillwaitforme。It’salottoask；Iknowhowmuch。Butwillyou，Marydear？That’swhatI’vecomeherefor——togetyoutosaythatyouwill。AfterthatI
　　canfaceanything——yes，andwinout，too。“
　　Marylookedathim。Hisfacewasaglowwithearnestnessandhisvoiceshookashefinishedspeaking。Heroseandheldouthishands。
　　“Willyou，Mary？“hebegged。
　　Shelookedathimnolonger。Shewasafraidtodoso——afraidofherownweakness。Butnosignofthatweaknessshoweditselfinhertoneassheanswered。
　　“I’msorry，Crawford，“shesaid，gently。“IwishIcould，butI
　　can’t。“
　　“Can’t！Can’twaitforme？“
　　“Icouldwaitforyou，itisn’tthat。Ifitweremerelyaquestionofwaiting——ifthatwereall——howeasyitwouldbe！Butitisn’t。
　　Crawford，youmustgobacktoyourfather。Youmustgobacktohimandforgetallaboutme。Youmust。“
　　Hestaredatherforamoment。Thenhelaughed。
　　“Forgetyou！“herepeated。“Mary，areyou——“
　　“Oh，please，Crawford！Don’tmakethisanyharderforbothofusthanithastobe。Youmustgobacktoyourfatherandyoumustforgetme。Icannotmarryyou，Ican’t。“
　　Hecametowardher。
　　“But，Mary，“hecried，“I——I——OfcourseIknowyoucan’t——now。I
　　knowhowyoufeelaboutyourdutytoyouruncles。Iknowtheyneedyou。Iamnotaskingthatyouleavethem。Iaskonlythatyousayyouwillwaituntil——untilbyandby，when——“
　　“Please，Crawford！No，Ican’t。“
　　“Mary！You——Oh，butyoumustsayit！Don’ttellmeyoudon’tloveme！“
　　Shewassilent。Heputhishandsuponhershoulders。Shecouldfeelthemtremble。
　　“Don’tyouloveme，Mary？“herepeated。“Lookup！Lookatme！
　　DON’Tyouloveme？“
　　Shedidnotlookup，butsheshookherhead。
　　“No，Crawford，“shesaid。“I’mafraidnot。Notenough。“
　　Sheheardhimcatchhisbreath，andshelonged——Oh，howshelonged！——
　　tothrowherarmsabouthim，tellhimthatitwasallalie，thatshedidlovehim。Butsheforcedherselfnottothinkofherownlove，onlyofthosewhomshelovedandwhatdisgraceandshameandmiserywouldcomeuponthemifsheyielded。
　　“Notenough？“sheheardhimrepeatslowly。“You——youdon’tloveme？
　　Oh，Mary！“
　　Sheshookherhead。
　　“Iamsorry，Crawford，“shesaid。“Ican’ttellyouhowsorry。
　　Please——pleasedon’tthinkhardlyofme，nottoohardly。Iwish——I
　　wishitweredifferent。“
　　Neitherspokeforamoment。Thenhesaid：
　　“I’mafraidIdon’tunderstand。Istheresomeoneelse？“
　　“Oh，no，no！Thereisn’tanyone。“
　　“Then——Butyoutoldme——Youhaveletmethink——“
　　“Please！ItoldyouIwasnotsureofmyownfeelings。I——Iamsurenow。Iamsosorryyoucame。Ishouldhavewrittenyou。I
　　hadbeguntheletter。“
　　Againsilence。Thenhelaughed，ashort，bitterlaughwithanythingbutmirthinit。
　　“Iamafool，“hesaid。“WHATafoolIhavebeen！“
　　“Please，Crawford，don’tspeakso……Oh，whereareyougoing？“
　　“I？Idon’tknow。WhatdifferencedoesitmakewhereIgo？Good-
　　by。“
　　“Stop，Crawford！Wait！Itmakesadifferencetoyourfatherwhereyougo。Itmakesadifferencetome。I——Ivalueyourfriendshipveryhighly。IhopedImightkeepthat。Ihopedyouwouldletmebeyourfriend，eventhoughtheothercouldnotbe。Ihopedthat。“
　　Theminutebeforeshehadaskedhimtoforgether，butshedidnotrememberthat，nordidhe。Hewasstandingbythedoor，lookingout。Foramomenthestoodthere。Thenheturnedandheldouthishand。
　　“Forgiveme，Mary，“hesaid。“Ihavebehavedlikeacad，I’mafraid。Whenafellowhasbeenbuildingaircastlesandallatoncetheytumbledownuponhisheadhe——well，heislikelytoforgetotherthings。Forgiveme。“
　　Shetookhishand。Shecouldkeepbackthetearsnolonger；hereyesfilled。
　　“Thereisnothingformetoforgive，“shesaid。“Ifyouwillforgiveme，thatisallIask。And——andletmestillbeyourfriend。“
　　“Ofcourse。Blessyou，Mary！I——Ican’ttalkanymorenow。
　　You’ll——“withanattemptatasmile——“you’llhavetogivemealittletimetogetmybearings，asyourUncleShadwouldsay。“
　　“And——andwon’tyougobacktoyourfather？Ishallfeelsomuchhappierifyoudo。“
　　Hehesitated。Thenhenodded。
　　“Ifyouwishit——yes，“hesaid。“IsupposeitisthethingIoughttodo。Dadwillbehappy，atanyrate。Oh，Mary，CAN’Tyou？“
　　“No，Crawford，no。Yes，yourfatherwillbehappy。And——andbyandbyyouwillbe，too，Iknow。Areyougoing？“
　　“Yes，IthinkIhadbetter。Idon’tfeellikemeetinganyoneandyourUncleShadwillbeheresoon，Isuppose。Yourmanhere——
　　Isaiah——toldmeofMr。Hamilton’ssickness。I’msorry。“
　　“Yes，poorUncleZoeth！Heisgainingalittle，however。Crawford，Iwon’taskyoutostay。Perhapsitwillbebestforbothofusifyoudonot。Butwon’tyouwritemejustoncemore？Justtotellmethatyouandyourfatherarereconciled？Ishouldliketoknowthat。Anddoforgiveme——Oh，do！IHADtosayit，Crawford！“
　　“Iforgiveyou，Mary。Ofcourseyouhadtosayit……But