And Father Speares was silenced. He looked at the license a little ruefully, read the service, and sent them off with a benediction.
"God knows, I wish you happiness," he assured Mariana when she kissed him.
Several months later, meeting Algarcife on Broadway, he repeated the words.
"I am happy," returned Algarcife, emphatically. "Mariana is an angel."
"I am glad to hear it," said Father Speares, and he sighed irrelevantly. "A good woman is a jewel of rare value."
The term "good woman," applied to Mariana, gave Anthony a sense of unfitness. Mariana was certainly a jewel, but, somehow, it had never occurred to him to look upon her as a "good woman."
"She is very charming," he remarked, quietly.
Father Speares was regarding him critically. "You are not looking well," he said. "Is it work or worry?"
Algarcife shook his head impatiently. "I—oh, I am all right," he rejoined. "A little extra work, that's all."
"Your book?"