‘And when?’

‘When you please,’ she answered. ‘Only before I marry you, you must promise me one thing.’

‘Yes! yes!’

‘To regard me still as only your handmaid; to look upon your Church always as your true Bride, to whom you are most deeply bound.’

‘I’ll try, dear; but will you be very angry if I sometimes forget her, when I feel your loving arms around me?’

‘Very angry,’ she said, smiling radiantly, upon him.

They rose up, and walked on together hand in hand.


CHAPTER XIII.—A RUNAWAY COUPLE.