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THE EUROPEANS.
[CH.
though imperceptibly. "You must speak to my father yourself," she said. "I think you are clever enough."
But Felix, rising too, begged her to remain. "I can speak better to an audience!" he declared.
"I hope it is nothing disagreeable," said Mr. Wentworth.
"It's something delightful, for me!" And Felix, laying down his hat, clasped his hands a little between his knees. "My dear uncle," he said, "I desire, very earnestly, to marry your daughter Gertrude." Charlotte sank slowly into her chair again, and Mr. Wentworth sat staring, with a light in his face that might have been flashed back from an iceberg. He stared and stared; he said nothing.
