Bella's smile expressed forbearance. It was getting dark, but she could see the hot flush in her companion's cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes. Neither was encouraging, but Bella was not easily, daunted, and she felt that her persistence was really meritorious, considering that until lately Millicent had never been cordial to her. "Perhaps I'd better answer," she said sweetly. "I was sure of Arthur, and that means a good deal more than that I knew he was in love with me--I don't suppose you heard that he'd proposed to me once before?" "Why didn't you take him then?" Millicent asked coldly. "Remember you have justified my being personal." Bella grew rather hot--when Carew had made his first offer she had been in eager pursuit of Gladwyne--but she sternly suppressed a desire to retaliate. "I don't think we need go into that," she replied. "As I said, I was sure of Arthur--I knew his character, knew he was better than I am, that he could be depended on. He's the kind of man one is safe with; I felt that the more I saw of him, the more I could trust him. Perhaps the feeling's a safer guide than passion--it stands longer wear--and now I'm getting to like him better every day." Her voice dropped to a tender note and Millicent felt a little astonished, and ashamed of her harshness. This was a new Bella, one in whose existence she could hardly have believed. "I haven't quite finished, though I don't often talk like this," Bella went on. "I feel that without the confidence I've tried to describe marriage must be a terrible risk--one might find such ugly qualities in the man; even defects you could forgive beforehand would become so much worse when you had to suffer because of them. Of course, one can't expect perfection, but there ought to be something--honor, a good heart, a generous mind--that one can rely on as a sure foundation. When you have that, you can build, and even then the building may be difficult." She paused before she concluded: "My dear, I'm happier than I deserve to be; I have chosen wisely."