in the best health and spirits as he was about to reply came into the room and she tried to carry on the conversation naturally but the silence of mrs and made this difficult dr reed was not a ready and this morning his replies were more than ever awkward and constrained at last it dawned on that he wanted to speak to her alone and in answer to a remark he had made concerning the fever in she said i wanted to ask you a question or two about fever dr reed one of my is going to die of it and i should like to avoid medical may i show you the passage f certainly miss i shall be delighted to help you � if i can as soon as left the room to fetch her manuscript the doctor hurriedly bade his patient and mrs good bye aren t you going to wait to see mrs asked e l have to speak to the boy in charge of my by muslin car i shall see miss as she comes downstairs mrs looked as if she thought this arrangement not a little singular but she said nothing and when came running downstairs with a roll of in her hand she attempted to explain her difficulty to the doctor he made a feeble attempt to listen to the passage she read aloud to him and when their eyes met across the paper she saw he was going to propose to her will you walk down the drive with me and we will talk of that as we go along her hat was on the hall table she took it up and in walked with him out on the gravel will i put the up cried the boy from the outside car no follow me down the avenue it was a wild autumn evening full of wind and leaves the great green pasture lands soaked and with rain rolled their monotonous green turf to the verge of the blown trees about which the drifted in picturesque confusion now they like or on straightened wings were carried down a furious gust across the tumultuous waves of yellow and past the of cold crimson that is tossed like a banner through the shadows of evening i came here to tell you that i am going away that i am leaving ireland for ever i ve bought the practice i spoke to you of in hill oh i am so glad thank you but there is another and more important matter on which i should like to speak to by muslin you for a long time back i had resolved to leave ireland a sad or an entirely happy man which shall it be you are the only woman i ever loved � will you be my wife � yes i will i was afraid to ask you before but he added sighing s i shan t be able to give you a home like the one you are leaving we shall have to be very economical we shall not have more than three hundred a year to live upon will you be satisfied with that r i hope indeed � i am sure we shall get on very well you forget that i can do something to keep myself she added smiling i have two or three orders she passed her arm through dr reed s and as he unfolded his plans to her he held her hand warmly and affectionately in his and as the twilight drifted it was wrapped like a veil about them the in great flitting flocks passed over their heads the crimson of the sky had been hurled further away and only the form of the grey horse that the boy had allowed to stood out distinctly in the gloom that descended upon the earth on the very first opportunity she could find told her mother that dr reed had proposed to her and that she had accepted him mrs said it was disgraceful and that she would never hear of such a marriage and when the doctor called by muslin next day she acquainted him with her views on the subject she told him he had very taken advantage of his position to make love to her daughter she really didn t know how he could ever have arrived at the conclusion that a match was possible and that for the future his visits must cease at and when heard what had passed between dr reed and her mother she wrote assuring him that her feelings towards him would remain by anything that anyone might say all the same it might be as well having regard for what had happened that the marriage should take place with the least possible delay she took this letter down to the post office her self and when she returned she entered the and told mrs what she had done i wish you had shown me the letter before you sent it there is nothing we need advice about so much as a letter yes mother replied deceived by the gentleness of mrs s manner � but we seemed to hold such widely different views on this matter that there did not seem to be any use in discussing it mother and daughter should never hold different views my children s interests are my interests � what interests have i now but theirs oh mother then you will consent to this marriage mrs s face always changed expression before a direct question my dear i would consent to anything that would make you happy but by muslin it seems to me impossible that you could be happy with dr reed i wonder how you could like him you do not know � i mean you do not what the of married life are they are often hard to put up with no matter who the man may be but with one 