Ben's heartbeat quickened as she turned to face him. Even before she voiced the question, it had the feeling of one that was of Vital Import — a question she would remember the answer to forever, most likely. (So don't fuck it up!)

He knew he should have taken the time to consider the implications of his response, but he found himself answering without a moment's hesitation or second thought. "In a heartbeat. If I thought I could actually make you happy — yes, of course. Absolutely."

The trouble was that no matter what she might say about wanting to throw away her status and her comfortable life and everything else, Ben knew better. He had seen real poverty, and had even experienced it on a few (thankfully brief) occasions, and he knew that a girl like Melody Finch couldn't live like that. She certainly couldn't be happy, in those sorts of conditions — and depending on what life handed her afterwards, she might not even survive it. She wouldn't have been the first so-called 'fallen woman' to have found an early grave after the struggle of adapting to poverty had proved too much.

But if things were different... well, Ben had never particularly seen himself as the marrying type, but there certainly wasn't anyone else he could think he'd rather find himself attached to. Why not, if it was feasible?