Only fancy, if my aunt
knew it, what a life she would lead me! Gustavus knows all about it,
and I feel that I am living at his mercy. Why were they so
wrong-headed?"
"I cannot answer that,--though I know them well enough to be sure
that Chiltern was the one in fault."
"It is so odd that you should have thrown your brother over."
"I have not thrown my brother over. Will you accept Oswald if he asks
you again?"
"No," almost shouted Violet.
"Then I hope that Mr. Finn may succeed. I want him to succeed in
everything. There;--you may know it all. He is my Phoebus Apollo."
"That is flattering to me,--looking at the position in which you
desire to place your Phoebus at the present moment."
"Come, Violet, I am true to you, and let me have a little truth from
you. This man loves you, and I think is worthy of you. He does not
love me, but he is my friend. As his friend, and believing in his
worth, I wish for his success beyond almost anything else in the
world. Listen to me, Violet. I don't believe in those reasons which
you gave me just now for not becoming this man's wife."
"Nor do I."
"I know you do not. Look at me. I, who have less of real heart than
you, I who thought that I could trust myself to satisfy my mind and
my ambition without caring for my heart, I have married for what you
call position.
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