never given the chance to choose freely? Perhaps you
may be the man for her. But if you marry her against
her will you’ll never know if you are.”
“I see,” he said slowly. “You think I should back out
now? Tell Marc I have changed my mind?”
“I shouldn’t really advise you,” she said. “You may
think me prejudiced on my brother’s behalf. To be
honest, I don’t believe that he and Pallas are in love. I
don’t believe they will ever be in love. But I think that if
Pallas feels under pressure from you and Marc, she may
convince herself she does love Sam, and that will be a
disaster for everybody, including my brother, because I
think Sam is the wrong man for Pallas. They’re good
friends, but they are too far apart for anything more
intimate.”
“O wise young judge,” he said gently, taking her hand
between both his and kissing it. “Thank you. I will speak
to Marc tonight.”
“And make sure he passes the word to Pallas,” she
said. “Insist on that being done immediately. Marc is
capable of playing it by ear, and that might push Pallas
too far.”
He nodded. “I will be firm with him. And I am grateful
to you for your advice. Several things Marc had said to
me in his letters had made me suspicious of some other
intervention. I was not surprised to see a young man
here.”
“Marc didn’t tell you?”
“He never mentioned Sam to me,” he said. Then, by
common consent, they dropped the subject, and walked