He went upstairs.
Presently the bridegroom wandered into the drawing-room again, evidently self-conscious, and endeavouring to conceal it by an excessive display of anxiety as to the probability of missing the train.
"Here she is!"
"The car is waiting," proclaimed Ruthie.
Old Mr. Garrett gazed at the white favours adorning the motor.
"Isn't there a shoe tied on behind?" he demanded sharply.
"I—I don't see one," said Sir Julian, rather feebly, and with an unaccountable sense of having been remiss in omitting to provide this emblem of good fortune.
"Don't let them drive away without an old shoe!" pleaded Mr. Garrett. "My dearr child—Ruth, if that's your name—run up to the bedrooms and see what you can find. I couldn't let my boy go off on his wedding trip without a shoe for good luck."
In eager obedience to this flight of sentiment, Ruthie triumphantly rushed upstairs, the successive sounds of burst-open doors, hasty explorations, and triumphant pouncings conveying the rate of her progress with great accuracy to those in the drawing-room below.
In the excitement which Mr. Garrett diffused round the whole question, there was no possibility of an emotional farewell.