"There＇s no way to do that, Miss Archer. I won＇t say that if you refuse me you＇ll kill me; I shall not die of it. But I shall do worse; I shall live to no purpose."
"You＇ll live to marry a better woman than I."
"Don＇t say that, please," said Lord Warburton very gravely. "That＇s fair to neither of us."
"To marry a worse one then."
"If there are better women than you I prefer the bad ones. That＇s all I can say," he went on with the same earnestness. "There＇s no accounting for tastes."
His gravity made her feel equally grave, and she showed it by again requesting him to drop the subject for the present. "I＇ll speak to you myself—very soon. Perhaps I shall write to you."