“I’m glad you have kept the information from Gwenfan. But she must not be kept in ignorance longer than can be helped; and since you have opened your mind freely to me, I may as well tell you that at the proper time and after I have consulted your father, she is prepared to accept your hand. As her brother and guardian, I will then, my dear Roberts, give her to you. I know you will watch over her with the deepest affection and solicitude. In this matter I have only one request to make, which I am sure will be readily granted. Will you promise?”
“To me, dear friend, you will is law.”
“My request is a simple one, namely, that your marriage be deferred for a time?”
“You are too cruel to defer the day of my being made perfectly happy.”
“But for your and her sake I think there should be reasonable delay. It is true your father is a rich man, but for the present you are simply a son of a city prince. Possibly he might give you £1000 a year, but I should like to see you in business yourself before you settle down. Then my dear sister is young: only little over eighteen years. Three or four years is not long to wait.”
“For the present I will not argue the point with you, you will learn that I am not in the position you fancy I am. I cannot explain myself further now, but when we return to town, you, dear Cadwgan, will know all. Others will reveal facts to you which I am bound to keep secret.”
“Well, well, we’ll talk on this matter again. We must now return to the Villa, and make our arrangements for our immediate return to London. Early to-morrow morning we must leave, otherwise we shall arrive at the warehouse on the day our leave expires.”
During the evening, Mr. Roberts and Gwenfan had a long conversation. When he returned to the library to join Cadwgan, he whispered, “It is all settled; I’m now happy.”
In the following August, Miss Wynn and her aunt paid a long visit to London. During their stay, they were frequent visitors at Mr. Roberts’ urban mansion. The more he saw of the gentle, quiet, and lovely Gwenfan, the more he liked her; and when the time came when those loving hearts were to be made one, he took his son’s and future daughter’s hands in his, saying, “Be true to each other; and you, my son, guard this beautiful Cambrian plant, for I am persuaded she is worth her weight in gold. You, Rhys, have made a wise choice, I would rather have Gwenfan for my daughter than a princess of the royal blood. May Heaven bless your union!”
We now pass over a brief period of history. Mr. Roberts had now ceased to be a partner in the firm. From the date of Mr. Wynn joining the firm until Mr. Roberts’ retirement, the house had prospered year after year. The partners became wealthy men, were of high repute in the city, and Mr. Wynn, who was considered the soul of the business, was looked up to as a man almost unequalled for business talents, while his word was regarded as law by all with whom he had any mercantile transactions.