{"product_id":"2940016239194","title":"The World Before Them","description":"\"But, Dolly! father will never give his consent, you know that;\" said a\u003cbr\u003emale voice behind the hawthorn hedge, that skirted the deep, sandy lane\u003cbr\u003ethat led to Heath Farm. The tone, reproachful and irritating, in which\u003cbr\u003ethis was spoken, was answered in a sweet, calm voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Until he gives his consent, his frank, free consent, Gilbert, I cannot,\u003cbr\u003eand _will not_ be your wife.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You are just as obstinate as the old man.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ay, and as proud. But don't think for a moment, Gilbert, that I blame\u003cbr\u003eyour father. Were I in his place, I might think just as he thinks. If he\u003cbr\u003ehas higher views for his son than a marriage with a nameless girl like\u003cbr\u003eme, his son should be the last to find fault. Don't let love blind you\u003cbr\u003eto facts. Look them boldly in the face, as I do. I cannot forget what I\u003cbr\u003eam, and what I owe to your father. The happy life I have led here from a\u003cbr\u003echild, made me forgetful of the great debt until\"--and here the calm\u003cbr\u003evoice faltered--\"the reproaches of last night brought it all fresh to my\u003cbr\u003emind, and I saw how ungrateful I had been to my benefactor, in giving\u003cbr\u003ethe least encouragement to you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, I shall not soon forget the cruel insult he put upon you. It was\u003cbr\u003emean and cowardly, to say the least of it. He might be proud to call you\u003cbr\u003ehis daughter, and his daughter you shall be, in spite of him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There are two words to that bargain,\" and that voice now spoke sternly\u003cbr\u003eand decidedly, \"two voices that speak in my heart--the voice of love\u003cbr\u003epleading for you; the voice of conscience, demanding of me to act\u003cbr\u003erightly. Which shall I obey?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo answer was given to this appeal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe speakers came forward to the stile; the young farmer with the fork\u003cbr\u003eover his shoulder, with which he had been making hay; his companion, a\u003cbr\u003egirl of seventeen, with the rake in her hand, her broad, coarse straw\u003cbr\u003ehat dangling from her arm, her raven ringlets thrown back from her fine\u003cbr\u003esun-burnt face, which glowed with healthy exercise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe lovers had been working together through the long June day. This was\u003cbr\u003ethe first time that either had spoken upon a subject that was uppermost\u003cbr\u003ein their thoughts, which had lain like a heavy weight upon their hearts,\u003cbr\u003eand rendered them unusually reserved to each other. They had worked in\u003cbr\u003esilence and apart, expecting the explanation which they knew must come,\u003cbr\u003ewhich both wished, yet each secretly dreaded, and put off until the\u003cbr\u003elast moment, as if by mutual consent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe hay was all cocked, they could no longer linger in the field; and as\u003cbr\u003ethey strolled homeward, Gilbert had broken the ice, and spoken in such\u003cbr\u003ean abrupt and decided manner, that it had aroused in his companion a\u003cbr\u003espirit of resistance; and confirmed her in the course which, after long\u003cbr\u003eand painful consideration, she had determined to adopt, not to accept\u003cbr\u003ethe hand of her lover against the wishes of his father.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47157620965616,"sku":"2940016239194","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940016239194_p0.jpg?v=1763631598","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016239194","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}