Don't you see--that even if it breaks my heart, I couldn't fail my boy--just now ?" There was a pause, and she regarded him anxiously; her hands were clasped tightly together in the effort to still their trembling, her blue eyes looked imploring.
John knew very well that it lay within his powers to make good his claim upon that gentle heart, and enforce his will and her submission to it.

But the strongest natures are those which least incline to tyranny; and he had already seen the results of coercion upon that bright and joyous, but timid nature.

He knew that her love for him was of the fanciful, romantic, high-flown order; and as such, it appealed to every chivalrous instinct within him.

Though his love for her was, perhaps, of a different kind, he desired her happiness and her peace of mind, as strongly as he desired her companionship and the sympathy which was to brighten his lonely life.

He was silent for a moment, considering how he should act.