He passed it to the Canon, who groaned.
“Must this be?” he enquired, with some superfluity.
The superfluity seemed to strike himself, for he added almost at once:
“‘If ’t’were done, ’t’were well ’t’were done quickly’, no doubt.”
“There is the other announcement to be thought of,” said Lucilla with merciless common-sense. “If Val is married at the end of this week, we shall have to put that in the papers.”
The Canon gave Owen a quick, anxious glance.
“Come into the house, my daughter,” he said to Lucilla. “We can speak of such matters there.”
Owen understood that Canon Morchard was thinking of him.
On a sudden impulse he went to seek Valeria.
“Look here, my dear, I’d do anything to help you, but do you really want me to stay on here any longer? It’s more than I can stand.”