_Dor._ I am rejoiced to know this, for my mind has often dwelt on thy fortunes. Many a time, when the old forge rocked in the wintry gale, my heart has been sad for thee, and I have lain awake weeping and praying for--for---- _Geof._ For me? _Dor._ For all who go down to the sea in ships. _Geof._ In truth, if the sea had no other charm I would be a sailor, that I might have thy prayers, Mistress Dorothy. _Dor._ Nay, but if it consisted with thy duty to abandon thy perilous calling, and bide here with us for ever, my poor prayers would still be thine, Master Geoffrey. But thou lovest the sea. (_Sighing._) _Geof._ All sailors love the sea. _Dor._ It is strange, for the sea is cold and cruel and fierce, and many brave men are yearly swallowed up of it. _Geof._ Dorothy, I love the sea dearly. There is but one love that is stronger in my heart--one love for which I would yield it up for ever and ever. Dear Dorothy, I have loved thee, boy and man, for ten years past; and I shall love thee, come what may, through my life. I came here to-day to tell thee this. I thought how to say it, but all that I thought of is gone--it’s my heart that’s speaking now and not my tongue. Bear with me, Dorothy, for every hope of my life--every waking and sleeping dream of ten years past--is in the words I’m speaking now. _Dor._ Oh, Geoffrey--Geoffrey! I know not what to say! _Geof._ Fear not for thy father, for I will quit the sea. Sir Jasper has offered to make me his secretary, and that is why I have come. But say nay, and I must needs go to sea again. _Dor._ Oh, Geoffrey--let me think--let me think! Do I love thee? I cannot say. It may be that I do--and yet--thou must not go to sea! Oh, I have given no thought to it. Truly thou art dear to me, for I am rejoiced when thou comest, and I am sorely grieved when thou goest. Is that love? _Geof._ Dorothy, let us inquire into this. _Dor._ Right willingly, for if I love thee I would fain know it, that I might gladden thine heart by telling thee so. _Geof._ Then attend to me, sweetheart, while I paint a picture for thee. We will suppose that I have given up the sea--that I have bought a little farm near at hand, and that I have come to live here, close to thee and thy father, for the rest of my life. Canst thou see the picture I am painting? _Dor._ Ay. It is a pleasant picture. _Geof._ Living here, close to thee, I naturally see thee very often. _Dor._ (_pleased_). Every day? _Geof._ Twice--maybe thrice--a day--for my horses need much shoeing, and I always bring them to the forge myself. Is that pleasant? _Dor._ Very pleasant. And on Sabbath thou takest me to church? _Geof._ Ay, save only when some other village gallant is beforehand with me and offers to escort thee thither, and in such case I am fain to take Farmer Such-a-one’s daughter instead. _Dor._ Nay, that were needless, for I would have no other escort than thou.