"A great risk?"
"Yes."
"The greatest of risks?"
"Yes."
"Have you the courage to set your father and mother at defiance?"
"Yes."
"Really now?"
"Yes."
"Very well, there is one way and only one. The thing must come from you
and not from me. You are a spoilt child; they let you say whatever you
like, and they will not be too much astonished at an act of daring the
more on your part. Listen, then. This evening, on reaching home, you
must go to your mamma first, your mamma alone, and tell her you want to
marry me. She will be greatly moved and very angry--"