Lady Lucy, from her post behind the silver tea service, looked at him with eager, anxious eyes.
"Well, Justin, what does she say? I know you have heard from her."
"The answer is in the affirmative," was the brief reply.
Lady Lucy heaved a sigh.
"Sensible girl. I felt that she needed to be saved from her impulsiveness! I can tell you again, Justin, that you have a woman in a thousand! Anstice is old for her age, as capable and efficient as—as a man, and she's just sweetness itself when you come to know her. She couldn't do a dishonourable thing. Courageous, unselfish, and loving. What could you want more for your children, to say nothing for yourself?"
"Leave me out of it," said Justin sharply. "She is quick to recognize that it is the children who need her and not I. But—she makes me wait three weeks!"
"You impatient man! What are three weeks out of a lifetime? I must go to her at once. She must have some kind of a trousseau."
Justin frowned heavily.
"Are you picturing us having a fashionable wedding? Don't you realize that we shall do the Registrar's business on our way up North!"
"I know that I mean to be with her when the rite is performed," said Lady Lucy. "The Registrar's Office is the only part of the business that I disapprove of."