"Short or not, it's what you get," I answered him. Mary left her room and the talk stopped.
"I am ready," she said.
I took her bundle and we started. At the head of the stairs she paused. "Will," she said, "I hate that man; but as I hope to go to the happiness of my life, I will not leave him so."
"Good for you!" says I.
She went in again and held out her hand.
"Mr. Belknap," she said, "I wish no ill-will between us. Forgive me as fully as I forgive you."
He was on pins and needles to get his money; to be rid of us.
"Certainly, my dear young lady!" says he with haste and effusion. "Certainly! Of course!" It meant nothing to him at all. And it meant a ton to Mary. She stared at him until I pulled her away. "Is that a sane man?" she asked me.
"I've no time for conundrums," I answered her. "We must be getting out of this."
If I succeeded, I was to signal Perez. When we reached the garden, I could walk freely, being in the company of the well-known Señorita Maria. I undid my neckerchief, shook it carelessly, and Perez was off, to bring Arthur by any kind of method to the arranged meeting-place.