“I think it is real nice,” she replied, with a degree of enthusiasm which fully rewarded me for all the pains I had taken, and the anxiety I had suffered.
“I’m glad you like it, Lilian. I like it exceedingly, and I am glad to find our tastes are one and the same.”
“I don’t mean to say that, if I were going to housekeeping, I wouldn’t have some things different,” she added.
“But you think you could contrive to exist in a house like this?”
“Why, yes; I like it very much indeed.”
“Then it is yours Lilian!” I added, rising from my arm-chair, as I precipitated the climax upon her.
“What do you mean, Paley?” she asked, bewildered by my words.
“This house and all that it contains are ours, dearest Lilian.”
“I thought you said it was your cousin’s.”
“So I did, Lilian; but that was only a little fiction to aid me in giving you a delightful surprise. This house is yours, my dear, and all that it contains, including myself, and Biddy in the kitchen.”