"Granted!" exclaimed Mr. Torrens. "And what guarantee have I that, when once the indissoluble knot shall have been tied, you will hand me over the promised sum?"
"Simply the fact that I do not wish to marry a man who will be the next morning conveyed away to a prison."
"That is a mere assertion, and no security," remonstrated Mr. Torrens; "we are talking the matter over in a purely business-like sense. Now, as far as I can see, the advantages will be all on your side. If you happen to be in debt, you will have a husband on whose person your creditors will pounce instead of on your own; and, at all events, as you are with child, you will have a person whom you can represent as the legitimate father of the expected offspring."
"I will tell you how the business can be managed," said Mrs. Slingsby, after a pause. "A thought has struck me! I will lodge the money in the hands of a very respectable solicitor whom I know, and you can accompany me to his office for the purpose. In his keeping shall it remain, with the understanding that it is to be paid to you on your becoming my husband."
"Good!" observed Mr. Torrens. "Who is the solicitor?"
"Mr. Howard," was the answer.
"I know him, and have no objection to him as the agent in the business. I think we have now got over all obstacles in that respect. A difficult task will it however prove to me to prepare my daughter this evening for the step which I am to take to-morrow."
"Oh! I have no doubt you will succeed," said Mrs. Slingsby: "it would be indeed hard if a father could not overcome, with his reasoning, the objections of his own child."
"I must do my best," observed Torrens, rising. "At what hour to-morrow shall I call to accompany you to the lawyer's?"
"At about twelve. I shall go to the bank between ten and eleven; and you can in the meantime obtain the marriage-license."