"Well, well, well!" Ann exclaimed, as her great, astonished eyes bore down on Virginia’s face. "I thought he was a chip off of the old block, but maybe he’s got a little streak of good in him, and yet, let me study a minute. Let’s walk on down to the spring. I want to see if it doesn’t need a new gum—the old one is about rotted out. Well, well, well!" They strolled along the fence, side by side, neither speaking till the spring was reached. There was a rustic bench near by, and Ann sat down on it, putting out her hand and drawing the girl to a seat at her side. "Yes, there may be a streak of good," she went on. "And yet that may be just another phase of bad. You must be very careful, child. You have no idea how beautiful you are. He may mean what he says, all right enough, but maybe he isn’t being led by the best motive. I know men, I reckon, about as well as any other woman of my age. Now, you see, it may be like this: Langdon Chester brought to his aid all the _foul_ means he could command to carry his point and failed. Maybe, now, he’s just reckless enough and his pride is cut deep enough to make him resort to fair means rather than be plumb beat to a finish. If that’s so, marrying him would be a very risky thing, for as soon as his evil fires smouldered he’d leave you high and dry. He’d convince himself he’d married below his standard, and go to the dogs—or some other woman. Sometimes I think there isn’t no real love, like we read about in story-books. I believe a man or a woman will love their own offspring in a solid, self-sacrificing way, but the sort of love that makes a continuous happy dream of marriage is powerful rare. It’s generally one-sided and like a damp fire that takes a lot of fanning and fresh kindling-wood to keep going. But what did you tell him, I wonder?" "Why, I refused him," Virginia answered. "You did? You don’t tell me! And how did his high and mighty lordship take that, I wonder?" "It made him awfully mad. He almost swore at me, and took hold of my hand roughly. Then, from something I happened to say, he imagined that I was in love with—with some one else, and he made awful threats of what he might do."