Page 664 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

thinking of you, would you think of him?’
‘No one can think of me as Mr. Rosier does; no one has
the right.’
‘Ah, but I don’t admit Mr. Rosier’s right!’ Isabel hypo-
critically cried.
Pansy only gazed at her, evidently much puzzled; and Is-
abel, taking advantage of it, began to represent to her the
wretched consequences of disobeying her father. At this
Pansy stopped her with the assurance that she would never
disobey him, would never marry without his consent. And
she announced, in the serenest, simplest tone, that, though
she might never marry Mr. Rosier, she would never cease
to think of him. She appeared to have accepted the idea of
eternal singleness; but Isabel of course was free to reflect
that she had no conception of its meaning. She was perfectly
sincere; she was prepared to give up her lover. This might
seem an important step toward taking another, but for Pan-
sy, evidently, it failed to lead in that direction. She felt no
bitterness toward her father; there was no bitterness in her
heart; there was only the sweetness of fidelity to Edward
Rosier, and a strange, exquisite intimation that she could
prove it better by remaining single than even by marrying
him.
‘Your father would like you to make a better marriage,’
said Isabel.
‘Mr. Rosier’s fortune is not at all large.’
‘How do you mean better-if that would be good enough?
And I have myself so little money; why should I look for a
fortune?’

664 The Portrait of a Lady