Come, be kind, be gentle and loving, as you ever have been, and we will
soon be completely happy by acknowledging our love before men, at the
altar."
"This again! Oh, tempter, betray me not!"
"You have your choice. I will _never_ marry you if you refuse my present
offer, NEVER! Whose, then, will be the shame? Which will you be, an
honorable wife, or a despised offcast? Your destiny is in your own hands,
make your election."
"Oh, God! I am in your power!"
"Then you consent?"
"What assurance have I that this promise will make me your wife? Have you
not promised the same thing scores of times?"
"Require any form of obligation, and I will give it; as I mean what I say,
make your own conditions."
"Give me a written promise."
He gave it as she dictated it:
"I hereby promise to marry Eliza Fleming within one month from this 12th
day of April, 1786. This promise I most solemnly give, calling on heaven to
witness it, and if I fail in its performance, may the curses of God rest
upon my soul in this world and in the world to come.
"LOUIS DURANT."
"That will do," she said.
"And I may depend on you?"
"Yes; I am no longer free. But mind, all must be done quietly and kept a
profound secret."
"Leave that to me; I will be responsible for the result.
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