There was a touch of horror in the suggestion.

It was tearing her to pieces, this hidden repellence.
And yet this occult objection was so utterly absurd.

If he died and left her a legacy she would accept it gratefully enough.

Cutty's plan was only a method of circumventing this indefinite wait.
Comforts, the good things of life, amusements--simply by nodding her head.

Why not?
It wasn't as if Cutty was asking her to be his wife; he wasn't.