"
"He goes to church," said Essie, too simple to look beyond.
"Only here, to please his mother. My dear, you must put this out of
your head. Even if he were very different, we should never let you
marry a first cousin, and he knows it. It was very wrong in him to
have spoken to you."
"Please don't let him do it again," said Esther, faintly.
"That's right, my dear," with a kiss of forgiveness. "I am sure you
are too good a girl really to care for him."
"I wish he would not care for me," sighed poor Essie, wearily. "He
always was so kind, and now they are in trouble I couldn't vex him."
"Oh, my dear, young men get over things of this sort half a dozen
times in their lives."
Essie was not delighted with this mode of consolation, and when her
mother tenderly smoothed back her hair, and bade her bathe her face
and dress for dinner, she clung to her and said—-
"Don't let me see him again."
It was a wholesome dread, which Mrs. Brownlow encouraged, for both
she and her husband were annoyed and perplexed by Robert's cool
reception of their refusal. He quietly declared that he could allow
for their prejudices, and that it was merely a matter of time, and he
was provokingly calm and secure, showing neither anger nor
disappointment.
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