“I do not mind waiting,” faltered Nan. But she felt at this moment that no lover could have been so absolutely perfect as her Dick.
“Oh, that is what girls always say,” returned Dick, rather loftily. “They are never in a hurry. They would wait seven—ten years,—half a lifetime. But with us men it is different. 235 I am not a bit afraid of you. I know you will stick to me like a brick, and all that; and father will come round when he sees we are in earnest. But all the same I want to have you to myself as soon as possible. A fellow likes the feeling of working for his wife. I hate to think of these pretty fingers stitching away for other people. I want them to work for me: do you understand, Nan?’” And Nan, of course, understood.
Dick, poor fellow, had not much time for his love-making, he and Nan had too much business to settle. Nan had to explain to him that her mother was of opinion that under the present circumstances, nothing ought to be done to excite Mr. Mayne’s wrath. Dick might write to her mother sometimes, just to let them know how he was getting on; but between the young people themselves there must be no correspondence.
“Mother says it will not be honorable, and that we are not properly engaged.” And, though Dick combated this rather stoutly, he gave in at last, and agreed that, until the new year, he would not claim his rights, or infringe the sacred privacy of the Friary.
“And now I must go,” said Dick, with a great sigh; “and it is good-bye for months. Now, I do not mean to ask your leave,—for you are such a girl for scruples, and all that, and you might take it into your head to refuse me: so there!”
Dick’s words were mysterious; but he very soon made his meaning plain.
Nan said, “Oh, Dick!” but made no further protest. After all, whatever Mr. Mayne and her mother said, they were engaged.
As Dick closed the little gate behind him, he was aware of a tall figure looming in the darkness.
“Confound that parson! What does he mean by loafing about here?” he thought, feeling something like a pugnacious bull-dog at the prospect of a possible rival. “I forgot to ask Nan about him; but I dare say he is after one of the other girls.” But these reflections were nipped in the bud, as the short, sturdy form of Mr. Mayne was dimly visible in the road.
Dick chuckled softly: he could not help it.