"That's a contented and a lowly state of mind, Molly." "Well, and you must consider what a man may have to offer. Money; position; independence. You should listen to girls talking about these things with each other." "Go on, Molly. It's a revelation." "Not really, Dick? Why, as for love, I don't know what it means. I don't, indeed." "Don't tell lies, Molly," he said, pressing her fingers. "I mean that I don't love Sir Humphrey a bit." "In that case, why not present him with the Boot?" "He won't leave me alone. He hangs about the street, waiting for me when I go to my lesson. He comes to the college when I am staying with Hilarie, and, oh, Dick, can't you understand the temptation of it?" "No, I can't." "Well, then, try to understand it. Here I am, a girl with no money, dependent on Hilarie, who is all sweetness and goodness, yet dependent; and this man, who may be--very likely--all that you say, offers me this promotion." "You ought not to be tempted. He is insulting you. If he means what he says, why doesn't he take you by the hand and lead you to his mother? He won't. He wants to hide you away. But he shall not, Molly--he shall not, so long as I breathe the upper air." Molly made no reply. What was there to say? "Fine love! Very fine love!" Dick snorted. "I don't think I care much about his being all that you say, Dick, because, if I have no particular regard for him, I should not inquire, and I should not mind. I suppose he would be tolerably well-behaved with me." "Then you are credulous, Molly, because he can't behave well to anybody." "And while I am pulled this way and that way with doubts, Hilarie is wanting me to make my first appearance and to conquer the world; and my teacher thinks I shall do pretty well, and learn by experience, and I know the contrary, because you say so, Dick." "Certainly. Quite the contrary." "And you are always telling me what you want." "I want you, Molly. Nothing short of that will satisfy me." "Then comes another temptation--worse than anything." "What is that?" "It's Alice. She wants me----" "Does she hiss 'diamonds' in your ear?" "No. She says that she's so fond of me she cannot live without me, and she wants me to live with them altogether. And John chimes in. Says he will adopt me, and make me his heiress. Think of that, Dick! Millions! All for me--for me, the daughter of a failure." "Molly." Dick spoke with solemnity suitable to the occasion. "This goes to the very root of things. You can't go on tramp with me if you begin to hanker after millions. No one ever heard of a great heiress talking to a gipsy or dancing in a barn. It can't be done. The weight of the dollars would nail your very heels to the boards." "But, Dick, they're my own people, you know."