Florence was passive in the hands of her aunt, and raised no objections to anything she proposed; but Mr. Aylwinne would not hear of quitting Babbicombe Bay for the noisy metropolis; and by dint of an obstinacy equal to her own, he finally won from Mrs. Blunden a consent to stay where she was until the nuptial rite was celebrated.
Florence, naturally domesticated and attached to Orwell Court, would have liked to go quietly home after her marriage. Mr. Aylwinne’s prolonged wanderings must, she fancied, have wearied him of other lands; yet it was he who sketched out a route which must detain them abroad for many months.
She pointed this out to her lover, and hinted her own wish that they might at all events return to England in time to keep their Christmas at Orwell Court; but his answer, though affectionate, was unsatisfactory.
“I shall not bring my darling back till she has learned to forget. When she wears the bright, untroubled face of the Florence I remember, then, and not till then, shall I be content.”
“And do you think it possible that I can ever again be the gay, careless child you then knew?” she asked, with a sigh. “Or shall I be less dear to you because contact with the world has taught me to think and to suffer?”
“Hush, love—hush! Whenever your voice takes that mournful strain it brings back memories that unfit me for everything. Let me have my way, Florence. If I seem obstinate, it is because I have my own ideas of what will be best for your happiness.”
“You think of me always and only, dear Frank,” she replied. “And there are the boys to be considered. I cannot help remembering their blank looks when they heard we were going away for an indefinite period. They will be very lonely, poor children!”
He was pleased at her thoughtful consideration for his wards, but answered directly:
“They must live as I did for years, upon hope; they will have one comfort I never had—your letters.”
She smiled and said no more. It seemed almost ungrateful to urge the claims of others any longer, while he was so bent upon remembering only hers.