“Well, now, Mr. Tremorne——”
“Rupert, if you please, Hilda!”
“Well, now, Prince Rupert, to show you how far astray you may be in predicting what a woman is about to say, I shall tell you exactly what was in my mind when the thread of my thought was so suddenly cut across. There were conditions, provisos, stipulations, everything in the world except the plain and simple ‘Yes’ you seemed to anticipate.”
“Even in that case, Hilda, I am quite happy, because these lead to the end. It cannot be otherwise, and all the provisos and stipulations I agree to beforehand, so let us get directly to the small but important word ‘Yes!’”
“Ah, if you agreed beforehand that would not be legal. You could say you had not read the document, or something of that kind, and were not in your right mind when you signed it.”
“Then let us have the conditions one by one, Hilda, if you please.”
“I was going to ask you to say no more at present, but to wait until I get home. I wanted you to come to me, and ask your question then if you were still in the same mind.”
“What an absurd proviso! And how long would that be? When shall you reach your own home?”
“Perhaps within a year, perhaps two years. It all depends on the duration of Mr. Hemster’s voyage. Of course it is quite possible that at any minute he may make up his mind to return. I could not leave him alone here, but once he is in Chicago he will become so absorbed in business that he would never miss me.”
“There is an uncertain quality about that proviso, Hilda, which I don’t at all admire.”