There is one thing, however--there
is one pledge that I would exact from you before we part."
He took her hand tenderly as he spoke, and his eyes, glistening with
tearful expectation, were fixed upon her own; but she did not
immediately reply. She seemed rather to await the naming of the pledge
of which he spoke. There was a struggle going on between her mind and
her affections; and though, in the end, the latter seemed to obtain the
mastery, the sense of propriety, the moral guardianship of her own
spirit battled sternly and fearlessly against their suggestions. She
would make no promise which might, by any possibility, bind her to an
engagement inconsistent with other and primary obligations.
"I know not, Mark, what may be the pledge which you would have from me,
to which I could consent with propriety. When I hear your desires,
plainly expressed to my understanding, I shall better know how to reply.
You heard the language of my father: I must obey his wishes as far as I
know them.
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