"But you will, and you shall!" he cried. "You shall see——"
The door opened, and the nurse came in to forbid his further lingering. With a distant good-by, he left Janet motionless and pale, and, hastening downstairs, went to the Squire's room.
"I have come," he said abruptly, "to ask your sanction to my engagement with your daughter."
The Squire laid down his book.
"I'm not much surprised," he said, smiling. "What does Jan say?"
Dale launched out into a history of the sweet things Janet had said, and of the strange, wild things she said now. The Squire heard of the latter with raised eyebrows.
"Very odd," he commented. "But it seems, my dear fellow, that, for good reasons or bad, at present she says No."
"She said Yes; she can't say No now," declared Dale. "Do you consent, Mr. Delane?"
"If she does, my dear fellow. But I can't help you in this matter."
"I want no help. She is not in her senses now. I shall make an end of this folly. I will not have it."