`` The girl I hope to marry is Joyce , Miss Sally . Wait -- do n't say anything till you hear me out . '' He came close to her and caught her hands in a boyish grip . `` Joyce and I have loved each other ever since we met . But we despaired of winning your consent , and Joyce will not marry me without it . I thought if I could get you to help me fix up my little home that you might get so interested in it -- and so well acquainted with me -- that you would trust me with Joyce . Please do , Miss Sally . I love her so truly and I know I can make her happy . If you do n't , Eden shall never have a mistress . I 'll shut it up , just as it is , and leave it sacred to the dead hope of a bride that will never come to it . '' `` Oh , you would n't , '' protested Miss Sally . `` It would be a shame -- such a dear little house -- and after all the trouble I 've taken . But you have tricked me -- oh , you men could n't be straightforward in anything -- '' `` Was n't it a fair device for a desperate lover , Miss Sally ? '' interrupted Willard . `` Oh , you must n't hold spite because of it , dear ; And you will give me Joyce , wo n't you ? Because if you do n't , I really will shut up Eden forever . '' Miss Sally looked wistfully around her . Through the open door on her left she saw the little living room with its quaint , comfortable furniture , its dainty pictures and adornments . Through the front door she saw the trim , velvet-swarded little lawn . Upstairs were two white rooms that only wanted a woman 's living presence to make them jewels .
And the kitchen on which she had expended so much thought and ingenuity -- the kitchen furnished to the last detail , even to the kindling XXXXX the range and the match Willard had laid ready to light it !
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