‘Read it——,’ she said in a sobbing whisper.
So he took out his eyeglasses, and read it again.
§
‘Now what you’ve got to do,’ said Mr. Thorpe, folding it up neatly when he had finished, and laying it down on the little table, ‘is to make up your mind that what’s done can’t be undone.’
Mrs. Luke, her head buried in the cushions, moaned.
‘That’s it,’ said Mr. Thorpe, a hand on each knee and an eye on her. ‘That’s the ticket.’
‘I know—I know,’ moaned Mrs. Luke. ‘But just at first—the shock——’
‘Shock, eh? I don’t know that there’s much shock about marriage,’ said Mr. Thorpe. ‘Shouldn’t be, anyhow.’
‘But so sudden—so unexpected——’
‘People will marry, you know,’ said Mr. Thorpe. ‘Especially men. Once they get set on it, nothing stops ’em.’