“No, sir; I will do nothing of the kind. Making or breaking matrimonial engagements is something at which my conscience rebels; and if ever I should be tempted to aid in that line, it certainly would not be for one so unsettled in the affections as yourself.”
Fred laughed in his usual amiable and lighthearted manner, but Hilda was too much disturbed to smile.
“It was never excusable in you, Fred, even with youth on your side; but at your age it is positively culpable. You will lose the respect of all right-minded people, for if there is a person who merits ridicule, it is a light-headed, trifling old beau.”
“But Cousin Hilda, how can I convince you that I am in earnest this time? I really love Miss Erma and intend asking her to be my wife.”
“No doubt; but unless you give me your word of honor, as a gentleman, that you will not trifle with the affections of that lovely girl, but will keep your word, Mr. Courtney and myself will not consider you worthy of respect, and our home will be closed against you.”
“I do give you my word of honor as a gentleman that I will ask Erma Merryman to be my wife; and if she accepts, will ask the very earliest time that she will agree to for our marriage, and will not make the least effort to break the engagement though the face of an houri should tempt me. Will that satisfy you, Cousin Hilda?”
“Yes, and no one will rejoice more than I to see you happily married; and you cannot fail in happiness if your wife be Erma Merryman.”
The evening that Hilda and Fred had this conversation Erma received a letter from Anita Appleton, a school friend in Hagerstown, accepting the cordial invitation given her by Erma the week before, to pass a month at the Merryman farmhouse.
She had scarcely finished the perusal of it when Fred called and was told of the expected visitor, and innocent satisfaction beamed in her gentle face when she noticed that his brow grew clouded, and the smile left his lips.
“You do not seem glad, Mr. Warfield,” she said. “I am sure you will be pleased with her. She is not only very beautiful, but is lovely in disposition. She is accomplished and witty; very different from me, which is, I suppose, my reason for loving her more than any girl in the school in Baltimore.”