"Very!"
"Because if it is, I intend to come back and lay it all at your feet, formally, abjectly, and with utmost speed."
Ruth wrestled away the imprisoned hand and gave her chair a backward push.
"Robert Brierly, if you dare to come to me and offer me a fortune, a hateful old English fortune—that I despise; if you only ask me to accept you after you are sure of that money, I won't! I will not! Never!"
"Ruthie!" She sprang up, but he was before her. "Oh, you can't escape now. I intend to propose to you this minute. I'll run no risks, after such a threat as that. Ruth, if you run away, I will shout it after you, and Mrs. Myers and Hilda are half way down the stairs now. Quick, Ruth, dear, will you marry me? I sha'n't let you go until you say yes."
And then, in spite of herself, Ruth's laughter bubbled over.
"You stupid! As if we hadn't been engaged for years! At least I have."
Half an hour later when Mr. Myers and Brierly came out upon the piazza together they found Ruth awaiting them there, equipped for a journey.
"Why, Ruth," said the lawyer, "are you going to the city?"