'
'I wish you had, Venetia; I would give up my resolution against
marriage directly.'
'Alas!' said Venetia, 'there is always some bitter drop in the cup of
life. Must you indeed go, George?'
'My present departure is inevitable,' he replied; 'but I have some
thoughts of giving up my profession and Parliament, and then I will
return, never to leave you again.'
'What will Lord ---- say? That will never do,' said Venetia. 'No; I
should not be content unless you prospered in the world, George. You
are made to prosper, and I should be miserable if you sacrificed your
existence to us. You must go home, and you must marry, and write
letters to us by every post, and tell us what a happy man you are. The
best thing for you to do would be to live with your wife at the abbey;
or Cherbury, if you liked. You see I settle everything.'
'I never will marry,' said Captain Cadurcis, seriously.
'Yes you will,' said Venetia.
'I am quite serious, Venetia. Now, mark my words, and remember this
day. I never will marry. I have a reason, and a strong and good one,
for my resolution.'
'What is it?'
'Because my marriage will destroy the intimacy that subsists between
me and yourself, and Plantagenet,' he added.
'Your wife should be my friend,' said Venetia.
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