“Oh, no!” she said, with a sob. “Not now! Do, please, go away, and leave me alone! You don’t know—you can’t imagine—I could die of shame and wretchedness. Do go away!”
“Darling girl!” he said. “Dear, darling girl! Come and have your wedding! Hold up your dear head again! We’ll say it was a sort of joke, and you meant me all the time. After all, I’m almost as good a fellow as Mallet, don’t you think?”
He said it in a boastful, conceited way that should have been rebuked; but Mildred did not rebuke him.
“Oh, you’re a thousand times better!” she cried, instead. “Better and dearer than any one else in the world! Only—”
It has been mentioned before that Dacier was good at talking. He needed all his skill now, for he had only a few minutes in which to overcome any number of objections, to change her tears to smiles, and to persuade her to make haste and get ready. He succeeded.
VIII
The clergyman was not surprised, because the bridegroom was unknown to him anyhow; but the little girl in spectacles, and Mr. and Mrs. Terhune!
Moreover, there were several things which startled Mildred. When they had all got back to the cottage, and the bride had gone into the kitchen for that noble cake, and Dacier had naturally followed her, she asked:
“Robert, why did you have a wedding ring in your pocket?”
“I have carried one there for some time, in case of emergencies,” he answered promptly.