下载辰思小说免费APP
willwait。“
“Itseemsapityforyoutodothat，“Hamelremarked。“Yousee，Imightstayhereforsometime。“
Mr。Fentolin’sfacedarkened。Helookedattheyoungmanwithasortofpensivewrath。
“If，“thelatterwenton，“yousay’yes’tosomethingIamgoingtoaskyou，Imightevenstay-intheneighbourhood-forlongerstill。“
Mr。Fentolinsatquitemotionlessinhischair；hiseyeswerefixeduponHamel。
“Whatisitthatyouaregoingtoaskme？“bedemanded。
“Iwanttomarryyourniece。
Mr。Fentolinlookedattheyoungmaninmildsurprise。
“Asuddendecisiononyourpart，Mr。Hamel？“hemurmured。
“Notatall，“Hamelassuredhim。“Ihavebeentenyearslookingforher。“
“Andtheyounglady？“Mr。Fentolinenquired。“Whatdoesshesay？“
“Ibelieve，sir，“Hamelreplied，“thatshewouldbewilling。“
Mr。Fentolinsighed。
“Oneisforcedsometimes，“heremarkedregretfully，“torealisetheselfishnessofouryoungpeople。Formanyyearsonedevotesoneselftoprovidingthemwithallthecomfortsandluxuriesoflife。Then，inasingleday，theyturnaroundandgiveeverythingtheyhavetogivetoastranger。SoyouwanttomarryEsther？“
“Ifyouplease。“
“Shehasaverymoderatefortune。“
“Sheneedhavenoneatall，“Hamelreplied；“Ihaveenough。“
Mr。Fentolinglancedtowardsthehouse。
“Then，“hesaid，“Ithinkyouhadbettergoandtellherso；inwhichcase，Ishallbeabletopaint。“
“Ihaveyourpermission，then？“Hamelasked，risingtohisfeeteagerly。
“Negatively，“Mr。Fentolinagreed，“youhave。Icannotrefuse。
Estherisofage；thethingisreasonable。Idonotknowwhethershewillbehappywithyouornot。Ayoungmanofyourdispositionwhodeclinestostudythewhimsofanunfortunatecreaturelikemyselfisscarcelylikelytobepossessedofmuchsensibility。However，perhapsyourviewsastoasolitaryresidenceherewillchangewithyourengagementtomyniece。“
Hameldidnotreplyforamoment。Hewastryingtoaskhimselfwhy，eveninthemidstofthisrushofanticipatoryhappiness，heshouldbeconsciousofacertainreluctancetoleavetheTower-andMr。Fentolin。HewaslookinglonginglytowardstheHall。Mr。
Fentolinwavedhimaway。
“Goandmakelove，“heordered，“andleavemealone。Wearebothinpursuitofbeauty-onlyourmethodsdiffer。“
Hamelhesitatednolongerbutwalkedupthenarnowpathwithswift，buoyantfootsteps。Everywhereheseemedtobesurroundedbythegloriousspringsunshine。Itglitteredinthelittlepoolsandcreeksbyhisside。It
