“Why so suddenly?”

“Why? Because events have been like runaway horses to-night. They have taken the bits between their teeth and dashed us over a precipice.”

“Against your will?”

“Nay, not against my will; but it was a leap I might never have dared to take.”

“And you mean to marry him, Kitty?”

“Yes, my lord; when he is a man.”

“And when will that be?”

“I know not; but manhood comes quickly in these piping times, and lives are short,” she added, with a little break in her voice.

“And he goes to sea to-morrow?”

“It is to-day,” she answered, with a bigger break.