"Listen to me, darling. Suppose we arrange now, definitely, to get married in two years' time. How will that do for you?"
"But, George, can you be sure that you'll be able to marry in two years?"
"You needn't worry about that," said he. "You needn't think because I've failed in an exam. I don't know what I'm about. You leave all that to me. In two years I shall be able enough to keep a wife--_and_ well! Now, shall we arrange to get married in two years' time?"
"It might be a fearful drag for you," she said. "Because, you know, I don't really earn very much."
"That's not the point. I don't care what you earn. I shan't want you to earn anything--so far as that goes. Any earning that's wanted I shall be prepared to do. I'll put it like this: Supposing I'm in a position to keep you, shall we arrange to get married in two years' time?" He found a fierce pleasure in reiterating the phrase. "So long as that's understood, I don't mind the rest. If we have to depend on Agg, or meet in the streets--never mind. It'll be an infernal nuisance, but I expect I can stand it as well as you can. Moreover, I quite see your difficulty--quite. And let's hope the old gentleman will begin to have a little sense."
He did not like her habit of "Oh, George! Oh! George!"
"Well?" He waited, ignoring her pious aspiration.
"We're engaged, aren't we?" She gave no answer, and he repeated: "We're engaged, aren't we?"
"That's all right. Well, will you give me your absolute promise to marry me in two years' time--if I'm in a position to keep you? It's quite simple. You say you don't know what to say. But you've got to know what to say." As he looked at her averted face, his calmness began to leave him.
"Oh, George! I can't promise that!" she burst out, showing at length her emotion. The observant skipper on the bridge noted that there were a boy and a girl forward having a bit of a tiff.
George trembled. All that Agg had said recurred to him once more. But what could he do to act on it? Anger was gaining, on him.
"It would have to depend on how father was. Surely you must see that!"
"Indeed I don't see it. I see quite the contrary. We're engaged. You've got the first call on me, and I've got the first call on you--not your father." The skin over his nose was tight, owing to the sudden swelling of two points, one on either side of the bone.