At last she told him she could not think of it, he had seen nothing of her, and could not possibly care for her, even supposing that she cared for him.
"By 'caring,'" said he, "do you mean being 'in love,' as they say, and all that ?" "Naturally," said Rachel, with great ease and irony, but with a new misgiving every moment.
"And have I said I was in love with you ?" inquired Mr.Steel, with a smile as indulgent as his tone.

"It might, perhaps, be no more than the truth; but have I had the insolence to tell you so ?" "It is a greater insult if you are not," returned Rachel, speaking hotly and quickly, but with lowered eyes.
"What! To offer to marry a person whom one does not--as yet--pretend to love ?" Rachel vouchsafed no reply.
"Whom one only--but tremendously--admires ?" Rachel felt bound to answer him, for at least there was no insult in his tone.

She raised her candid eyes, a sweet brown blush upon her face.
"Yes," she said, "I think there is absolutely no excuse for a proposal of marriage, if it is not founded upon love and nothing else!" "Or its pretence and nothing else," amended Steel, with a bow and a smile of some severity.

"That is a hard saying," he went on, resuming his chair, and wheeling it even nearer to Rachel's than it had been before; "moreover," he added, "since I have already insulted you, let me tell you that it is an exceedingly commonplace saying, into the bargain.
It depends, you must admit, upon the commonplace conception of marriage; and before we go any further I should like to give you my own conception, not of the institution, but of the particular marriage which I have in view." So he had it in view! It was not an inspiration, but already quite a prospect! Rachel made an acid little note of this; but there was no acidity in her permission to him to proceed; her turn was coming last.
"The marriage that I propose to you," continued Steel, "is simply the most convenient form of friendship of which I can think.

I want to be your friend; indeed, that much I mean to be, if necessary, in spite of you.