“It is a happy New Year to us, Patsey,” said Joe, as the last guests departed, and the last lantern twinkled down the road.
“It is the happiest New Year of my life, Joe,” said Patsey, lifting her face to his. “My dear, my dear, suppose you were still languishing in that terrible prison!” She shuddered and hid her face on his shoulder.
“It is you who wear the fetters now,” said Joe, playfully, to turn her thoughts from the subject.
“Yes; but I rejoice in my bondage,” said Patsey, kissing her shining wedding ring. “I glory in being a slave. I am your willing prisoner.”
“Not my prisoner, but my queen, my wife,” he answered.
“It is a happy New Year for me,” said Lettice, cuddling close to her father’s side, as they drove home together. “What were you and Mr. Baldwin talking about so long?”
He drew her closer to him under the warm bearskin robes. “About several things. Is my little girl so very fond of that young man? And would it make her very unhappy to give him up?”
“Oh, daddy, dear, you mustn’t ask such personal questions.”
“But I want to know.”
“Why?”