Do stay, Quin; won't you?"
She was looking up at him with such frank urgency and such entire
sympathy that Quin lost his head completely.
"Miss Nell," he blurted out, "if I stay and get a job and make good, will
you marry me?"
Eleanor, who was used to much more subtle manoeuvers, was caught unaware
by this sudden attack. For a second she was thrown into confusion; then
she rallied all her forces for the defense.
"Why, of course I won't!" she said--then added with more conviction: "I
am not going to marry _anybody_--not for years and years."
"But I'll wait years and years," persisted Quin eagerly. "I wouldn't
marry any girl until I could take care of her. But if you'll just give me
a tip that maybe some day perhaps----"
It was very difficult to go on addressing his remarks to an impassive
classic profile--so difficult, in fact, that he abandoned the effort and
let his eyes say the rest for him.
Eleanor stirred uneasily.
"I _wish_ you wouldn't be foolish, Quin, and spoil all our fun. I've told
you I mean to go on the stage for good and all. You know you wouldn't
want an actress for a wife."
"I'd want you, whatever you were," he said with such fervor that she
rashly gave him her luminous eyes again in gratitude.
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