“It shall not kill us,” he answered slowly. “We will, on the contrary, smother and bury it.”
“Ah, easier said than done! Now tell me frankly, Lumley, what are your family proposing to do with me?”
“To find you a nice lady companion, and let you travel for a bit.”
“Yes—and then?”
“Well, I——” he stammered, “I’m not sure that they suggested anything further. To be honest, my father will not hear of our marriage. My mother is heartbroken; but she, too, is against it. Leonora—is—is——”
“Triumphant! That is understood. And you, Lumley?”
“I am ready to marry you to-morrow. I love you, Rata. Of course you come first of all; but I do not wish to quarrel with my father, or break my mother’s heart. It seems so hard to hit on the right thing, and decide. I want a good think—all by myself. I will go off alone to-morrow morning into the country, and come back and tell you what the result is, and then we can make our plans.”
“Very well.”
“What time shall I come—may I say four o’clock?”
“Yes.”