"Have you, then, fully resolved to remain single?"
"Why do you ask me that, Dr. Arnold?"
"Because you are dear to me, Queen; and I should like to see you happily married before I am laid in my grave."
"You will never see it. Be sure I shall live and die Irene Huntingdon."
"What has induced you to doom yourself to a——"
"Ask me no more, Doctor. If I am content with my lot, who else has the right to question?"
He looked into that fair chiselled face, and wondered whether she could be truly "content"; and the purity and peace in her deep, calm eyes baffled him sorely. She rose, and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"Dr. Arnold, promise me that if there is a battle, and father should be hurt, you will telegraph me at once. Do not hesitate—let me know the truth immediately. Will you?"
"I promise."
"And now, sir, what can I make or have made for you which will conduce to your comfort?"