“No, my lad, I should not be serving your cause,” said Gartram firmly. “You see, she had always been so intimate with that fellow Lisle. Boy and girl together. It will take a little time to wean her from the fancy, and if I pull out the authoritative stop I shall be making him into a hero and her into a persecuted heroine. I may as well tell you that she is a bit firm, like I am, and any angry discussion on my part would perhaps make her stubborn.”
“Then, perhaps, you had better not speak, sir.”
“Decidedly not. There, you have the run of my place. Set to and win her like a man. Get along with you, you dog. Smart, handsome fellow like you don’t want any help. It’s only a matter of time. Don’t seem to push your suit too hard. Treat it all as a something settled; and all you have to do is to get her used to you and her position as your betrothed. Bah! it will all come right, so don’t let’s risk opposition. You will win.”
“You are right, sir,” said Glyddyr. “I’ll be patient.”
“Of course you will. That’s right. I say, though, that little upset?”
“Little upset, sir?” said Glyddyr starting.
“I mean about your friend, the visitor from town, whose wife came after him.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Glyddyr. “I didn’t know what you meant.”
“Rather an exciting affair, that. Strikes me that if it had had a tragic termination, your friend would not have broken his heart. I say, here you are in a hurry to get married, and you never know how the lady may turn out.”
“Ah, that was an exception, sir,” said Glyddyr hurriedly.