`` It is not that , '' said Lynde in a hard , unnatural voice . `` I am married already . '' Alan stared at her , not in the least comprehending the meaning of her words . Everything -- pain , hope , fear , passion -- had slipped away from him for a moment , as if he had been stunned by a physical blow . He could not have heard aright . `` Married ? '' he said dully . `` Lynde , you can not mean it ? '' `` Yes , I do . I was married three years ago . '' `` Why was I not told this ? '' Alan 's voice was stern , although he did not mean it to be so , and she shrank and shivered . Then she began in a low monotonous tone from which all feeling of any sort seemed to have utterly faded . `` Three years ago Mother was very ill -- so ill that any shock would kill her , so the doctor Father brought from the lake told us . A man -- a young sea captain -- came here to see Father . His name was Frank Harmon and he had known Father well in the past . They had sailed together . Father seemed to be afraid of him -- I had never seen him afraid of anybody before . I could not think much about anybody except Mother then , but I knew I did not quite like Captain Harmon , although he was very polite to me and I suppose might have been called handsome . One day Father came to me and told me I must marry Captain Harmon .
I laughed at the idea at first but when I looked XXXXX Father 's face I did not laugh .
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