"When you followed the sea," she said quickly, "if you had a good ship
with a freight that you had gathered with great care and hopefulness,
and had brought it almost to the market that it was suited for, would
you have been persuaded to turn about and take it to some place where
it would be next to useless?"
"No," said Captain Parish, "no, I shouldn't," and he half smiled at
this illustration.
"I can't tell you all my reasons for not wishing to marry," Nan went
on, growing very white and determined, "or all my reasons for wishing
to go on with my plan of being a doctor; but I know I have no right to
the one way of life, and a perfect one, so far as I can see, to the
other. And it seems to me that it would be as sensible to ask Mr.
Gerry to be a minister since he has just finished his law studies, as
to ask me to be a wife instead of a physician. But what I used to
dread without reason a few years ago, I must forbid myself now,
because I know the wretched inheritance I might have had from my poor
mother's people. I can't speak of that to Aunt Nancy, but you must
tell her not to try to make me change my mind."
"Good God!" said the captain. "I dare say you have the right points of
it; but if I were a young man 't would go hard with me to let you take
your life into your own hands. It's against nature."
"No," said Nan. "The law of right and wrong must rule even love, and
whatever comes to me, I must not forget that. Three years ago I had
not thought about it so much, and I might not have been so sure; but
now I have been taught there is only one road to take.
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