'What did I say?' he exclaimed, regarding her earnestly and wistfully. 'I remember that I made you an honest and straight-forward avowal of the love that was in my heart, Bella.' 'Perhaps--but I only remember the terms in which you did make it,' replied Bella, in whose mind the unfortunate and misconstrued term 'contempt of his world' was rankling. 'Once again, Bella,' said he, with his hand stretched out towards her, and a great expression of entreaty in his eyes--'will you be my wife--will you marry me?' 'It cannot be,' said she, with a firmness that was not entirely assumed; 'but let us part friends.' 'Nothing more?' he asked, sadly. 'Nothing more,' she replied, in a choking voice. In her angry pride of heart, one moment she had gone near to hating him, but she does not hate him now--oh, far, far from it, when looking upon the handsome and earnest face, as perhaps she may be doing for the last time, but, so far as her words go, she is as unyielding as ever. A little indignation at her hardness began to gather in Jerry's heart, and he said, in a light tone of reproach, 'Of course, it is too much to expect an English girl to give up--on a sudden, too--the comforts of an English home, the prospect of a season in London and another at Brighton, to broil with a poor devil on the Gold Coast, and share a South African bungalow.' Bella took a peculiar view of this speech, and believed it was a sudden way of 'shelving herself,' as she had refused him. She knew nothing of the military etiquette and iron rule that prevented an officer from quitting in any way after letters of readiness came, and thought that Jerry might retire when he pleased, marry and keep his wife at home. She gave a little disdainful smile and remained silent, so Jerry spoke again-- 'When I was a big boy in knickerbockers, and you were a little girl in short frocks, we used to be like Paul and Virginia in the Wilmot Woods.' 'Well, Paul and Virginia have grown up, and the young lady has come to her senses.' 'If the gentleman has not.' 'He has come to his senses too, and has his eyes very wide open indeed.' 'She is referring to those infernal mortgages,' thought Jerry (which was the case), 'and how shall I ever undeceive her?' 'In our boy and girl time you would have trusted me,' he urged. 'Perhaps, but I did not know you as I do now, and the world you live in.' 'The past, Bella----' 'Is past, Captain Wilmot; let us not refer to it again. I do not understand you.' 'May I--can I--dare I explain?' he began, impetuously. 'Certainly not--there is nothing I wish explained,' said she, warmly, though tears were in her eyes, and, as they seemed to be almost 'sparring now,' Jerry rose to withdraw, yet lingered, with a heavy, loving, and angry heart, and said, 'To me you are in no way what you were once, Bella, and what I hoped you might have been. When I was last in Wilmothurst I saw that puppy Twesildown hovering about; surely you--you don't encourage him?'