"No, I mean to go to him like a gentleman, and ask permission to pay my addresses to his daughter. I mean to do this before I say one word of love to her." "Since you are so resolved upon your course you do not need any more advice from me." "I don't mean that at all. Isn't this the right, honorable course?" "Oh, your royalty wishes me to applaud your decrees and decisions," she said laughing. "Now please don't be hard on me, Mrs. Willoughby. I've followed your advice with all my might for a week." "Done nothing with all your might?" "Yes, and you couldn't have given me a harder task." "Are you of age?" "Yes, I am. I'm twenty-two, however immature I may seem to you." "Miss Bodine is not of age." "Well, I'll wait till she is." "Wouldn't that be better? Wait till she is of age, and more capable of judging and acting for herself. Time may soften her father's feelings, and your father's also, for, believe me, you are going to have as much trouble at home as with Captain Bodine, that is, supposing that Ella would listen to your suit." "And while I'm idly biting my nails through the creeping years some level-headed Southerner will quietly woo and win her. I would deserve to lose her, should I take such a course." "You certainly would have to take that risk; but perhaps you will incur greater risks by too hasty action." "Be sincere with me now, Mrs. Willoughby. I don't believe you women like timid, pusillanimous men. How could I appear otherwise to Miss Bodine if I should withdraw, like a growling bear into winter quarters, there to hibernate indefinitely? The period wouldn't be life to me, scarcely tolerable existence. What could she know about my motives and feelings? I tell you my love is as sacred as my faith in God. I'm proud of it, rather than ashamed. I wish her to know it, no matter what the result may be, and I don't care if all the world knows it, too." "You mean to tell your father then?" "Certainly, at the proper time." "Suppose you find him utterly opposed to it all?" "I do not think I shall; not when he sees my happiness is at stake. He may fume over it for a time, but when he comes to know Ella she'll disarm him. Why, it's just as clear to me as that I see you, that she could make the old gentleman happier than he has been for over a quarter of a century." "My poor young friend! I wish I could share in your sanguine feelings." "Oh, I'm not so very sanguine about her. What she will do worries me far more than what the old people will do." "Well, you are right there. The old people are the outworks, she the citadel, which you can never capture unless she chooses to surrender." "That's true, but I don't believe she ever would surrender to a man who was afraid to approach even the outworks." Mrs. Willoughby laughed softly as she admitted, "Perhaps you are right."