"You see I'm not so prejudiced an observer as you, Jim. I've looked the facts squarely in the face. You can't realize how much the power of millions means to a woman who chafes at the limitations the world puts on her sex. My imagination has been set on fire by dreams of splendour and power. It's too late----" "Don't, don't say it, Nan!" "Why not be frank? This little cottage is a gem, I admit. But I've seen a splendid palace set in flowers and gleaming with subdued light. Soft music steals through its halls mingled with the laughter of throngs who love and admire me. Its banquet tables are laden with the costliest delicacies, while liveried servants hurry to and fro with plates and goblets of gold! And all this wild dream, Jim, seems real, a part of my very life. Perhaps somewhere in another world my spirit lived in such surroundings----" "Perhaps," Stuart interrupted bitterly, "in the breast of a cruel, merciless half-savage princess who killed her lover to win a throne----" Nan suddenly grasped his arm. "What are you saying!" "Only interpreting your dream." "You mustn't say horrible things like that to me. It's bad enough, God knows, when I face it. But at least I'm not a murderess." "I'm not at all sure," he persisted, with desperation. "That a girl who can deliberately kill the soul of the man who loves her, might not kill his body if put to the test----" "For heaven's sake, Jim, if you do love me don't say such things! I'll never forget them! I can't help it--I've got to do this. The spell is on me, and I must----" Stuart seized her arm with fierce strength that hurt. "Then I'll break the spell. You shall not do this hideous thing. You are mine, I tell you, and I am bigger than money. I have the power to think, to create ideas, to create beauty--the power that remakes the world. I expect to have all the money we shall need. In the years to come we shall be rich whether we seek it or not. But the sweetest days of all life will be those in which we fight side by side the first battles of life in youth and poverty when we shall count the pennies and save with care for the little ones God may send us! With your sweet face bending above me and the touch of your hand, the highest success is sure. Marry me now. Here is your home. We don't need to be rich to be happy--a loving heart, generous sympathies, comradeship, high ambitions, strong young bodies and clean souls--and the angels will envy us!" "But life is short, Jim! I can have things now. He has already promised them--a palace in town, another by the sea, a great castle in the heart of the blue southern mountains we used to watch as children, and armies of servants to do my bidding--I can live now!" "And you call these trappings and tinsel life?" "I want them."