"Why should there be secrets between us?" said Kate.
"There shall be none, then. I have told him that I cannot bring myself to marry him instantly;--that he must allow me twelve months to wear off, if I can in that time, much of sadness and of self-reproach which has fallen to my lot."
"Twelve months, Alice?"

I have told him that I cannot bring myself to marry him instantly; that he must allow me twelve months to wear off, if I can, the sadness and self-reproach I must feel."
"Twelve months, Alice?"
