"Marmaduke," she said at last, "it is getting late; Mrs. Henley will miss me; I must go."
"A moment longer; one moment."
"Only a moment. Dearest Marmaduke, will you never forget me? Will you think of me always? Will you write as often as you can? Let us every night at twelve look at the moon; it will be so sweet to know that at that moment each is doing the same thing, and each thinking of the other. You will not lose my locket? But, stay; you have never given me a lock of your hair. Do so now."
He took a penknife from his pocket, and, with noble disregard to his appearance, cut off a large lock of his black hair, which he folded in a piece of paper and gave to her. She kissed it many times, and vowed its place should be upon her heart. Then, after throwing herself into his arms, in one last embrace of despair, she broke from him and darted into the house, rushed up into a bed-room, threw herself outside the bed, and gave way to so vehement a fit of crying, that when Mrs. Henley came in to look for her, she found her in hysterics.
Nota bene.—Sixteen months afterwards, Mary Hardcastle became Mrs. Meredith Vyner.
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
FOUR YEARS LATER.
Messire Bon l'a prise en mariage,
Quoiqu'il n'ait plus que quatre cheveux gris;
Mais comme il est le premier du pays
Son bien supplée au défaut de son age.
LAFONTAINE.