He took a chair opposite; and he and papa scanned one another closely. I caught, in Dr. Urquhart's face, that peculiar uneasy expression about the mouth. What a comfort a beard must be to a nervous person!
A few commonplace remarks passed, and then our visitor asked if he might speak with papa alone. He was the bearer of a message—a letter in short—from Sir William Treherne, of Treherne Court.
Papa said, stiffly—he had not the honour of that gentleman's acquaintance.
“Sir William hopes, nevertheless, to have the honour of making yours.”
Lisabel pinched me under the table; Penelope gazed steadily into the tea-pot; papa rose and walked solemnly into his study—Doctor Urquhart following.
It was—as Lisa cleverly expressed it—“all right.” All parties concerned had given full consent to the marriage.
Captain Treherne came the day following to Rockmount, in a state of exuberant felicity, the overplus of which he vented in kissing Penelope and me, and requesting us to call him “Augustus.” I am afraid I could willingly have dispensed with either ceremony.
Doctor Urquhart, we have not seen again—he was not at church yesterday. Papa intends to invite him to dinner shortly. He says he likes him very much.