"It is yours to say when, Miss Custis. I am ready any day."
"And you will give me every note and obligation of my father, so that my mother's portion shall be returned to her in full, and this house, servants, and demesnes be mine in my own right?"
"Yes," said Milburn; "I have such confidence in your truth and virtue that you shall keep these papers from this moment until the marriage-day."
"It will not be long, then," Vesta said, looking at Milburn with a will and authority fully equal to his own. "Will you take me to-night?"
"To-night?" he repeated. "Not to-night, surely?"
"To-night, or probably never."
He drew nearer, so as to look into her countenance by the strong firelight. Calm courage, that would die, like Joan of Arc in the flames, met his inquiry.
"Yes," said Milburn, "at your command I will take you to-night, though it is a surprise to me."
He flinched a little, nevertheless, his conscience being uneasy, and the same trembling Vesta had already observed went through his frame again.
"What will the world say to your marriage after a single day's acquaintance with me?"