"I fear
Herbert and Clarice will both die, and I so hate a book with a sad
ending. Why don't authors keep their lovers alive--"
"Marry them off and let them live happily ever afterward," Quincy
concluded.
"I don't think I could ever write a book with a sorrowful conclusion,"
mused Alice.
Quincy saw the opportunity for which he had long waited.
"Why don't you write a book?" asked he earnestly. "My friend Leopold
says you ought to; he further said that you were a genius, and if I
remember him correctly, compared you to a diamond--"
"In the rough," added Alice quickly.
"That's it," said Quincy; "but Leopold added that rough diamonds should
be dug up, cut, and set in a manner worthy of their value."
"I am afraid Mr. Ernst greatly overrates my abilities and my worth,"
said she, a little constrainedly. "But how unkind and ungrateful I am to
you and Mr. Ernst, who have been so kind and have done so much for me. I
will promise this much," she continued graciously. "I will think it
over, and if my heart does not fail me, I will try."
"I hope your conclusion will be favorable," remarked Quincy.
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