Think only--a young
widow, rich, and not a straw the worse!"
"Sepia, I can't for the life of me tell whether you are a Job's
comforter or the devil's advocate."
"Not the latter, my child; for I want to see you emerge a saint
from the miseries of matrimony. But, whatever you do, Hesper,
don't break your heart, for you will find it hard to mend. I
broke mine once, and have been mad ever since."
"What is the use of saying that to me, when you know I have to
marry the man?"
"I never said you were not to marry him; I said you were not to
break your heart. Marriage is nothing so long as you do not make
a heart affair of it; that hurts; and, as you are not in love,
there is no occasion for it at all."
"Marriage is nothing, Sepia! Is it nothing to be tied to a man--
to _any_ man--for all your life?"
"That's as you take it. Nobody makes so much of it nowadays as
they used. The clergy themselves, who are at the bottom of all
the business, don't fuss about every trifle in the prayer-book.
They sign the articles, and have done with it--meaning, of
course, to break them, if they stand in their way."
Hesper rose in anger.
"How dare you--" she began.
"Good gracious!" cried Sepia, "you don't imagine I meant anything
so wicked! How could you let such a thing come into your head? I
declare you are quite dangerous to talk to!"
"It's such a horrible business," said Hesper, "it seems to make
one capable of anything wicked, only to think about it.
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