"Ready so soon, my darling?" he exclaimed, with animation. "I saw your father safe on the highway, and came at once; but—but what does this mean? Surely, Ruth, you cannot go in that dress?"
"No, I cannot. Oh, Mr. Walton, I dare not so disobey my father! He would never, never forgive me!"
The young man drew back, and a flash of angry surprise darkened his face.
"Is it that you will disappoint me, Ruth? Have I deserved this?"
"No, no; but he trusts me!"
"Have I not trusted you?"
"But my father—my father?"
"It is your father who drives us to this. He is unrelenting, or that presumptuous wretch would not be permitted to enter his dwelling. Has he dared to present himself again?"
"Yes, last night; but for that I might have lost all courage, all power of resistance."
"And you saw him? You spoke with him?"