She swung around on the gilded music-stool, one white hand lying among the ivory keys.
“I shall spare us both,” she said; “I shall tell him that it is settled.”
Garcide rose; she received his caress with composure. He made another grateful peck at her chin.
“Why don’t you take a quiet week or two in the country?” he suggested, cheerfully, “Go up to the Sagamore Club; Jane will go with you. You can have the whole place to yourselves. You always liked nature and—er—all that, eh?”
“Oh yes,” she said, indifferently.
That afternoon the Hon. John Garcide sent a messenger to James J. Crawford with the following letter:
“My dear Crawford,—Your manly and straightforward request for permission to address my ward, Miss Castle, has profoundly touched me.
“I have considered the matter, I may say earnestly considered it.
“Honor and the sacred duties of guardianship forbid that I should interfere in any way with my dear child’s happiness if she desires to place it in your keeping. On the other hand, honor and decency prevent me from attempting to influence her to any decision which might prove acceptable to myself.
“I can therefore only grant you the permission you desire to address my ward. The rest lies with a propitious Providence.