You prefer me to other girls, and you wish me to become your wife."
"You put it in better words than I can do, Judith, and I
wish you to fancy them said just as you most like to hear 'em."
"They're plain enough, Harry, and 'tis fitting they should be so.
This is no place to trifle or deceive in. Now, listen to my answer,
which shall be, in every tittle, as sincere as your offer. There
is a reason, March, why I should never -
"I suppose I understand you, Judith, but if I'm willing to overlook
that reason, it's no one's consarn but mine - Now, don't brighten
up like the sky at sundown, for no offence is meant, and
none should be taken."
"I do not brighten up, and will not take offence," said Judith,
struggling to repress her indignation, in a way she had never found
it necessary to exert before. "There is a reason why I should
not, cannot, ever be your wife, Hurry, that you seem to overlook,
and which it is my duty now to tell you, as plainly as you have
asked me to consent to become so. I do not, and I am certain that
I never shall, love you well enough to marry you. No man can wish
for a wife who does not prefer him to all other men, and when I
tell you this frankly, I suppose you yourself will thank me for my
sincerity.
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