It was more like a bet than a proposal. He seized it.
“I’ll take you.”
They had snapped their wager at each other almost with hostility. They glared defiantly together; then their eyes softened. Laughter gurgled in their throats. His hands shot across the table; she put hers in them, in spite of the waiters.
A fierce impulse to make certain of possession caught them to their feet. He paid his bill standing up, and would not wait for change. They found a jewelry-shop and bought the ring. They took the subway to City Hall; a taxicab would be too slow.
There was no difficulty about the license. Every facility is offered to those who take the first plunge into marriage. The ascent into Paradise is as easy as the descent into Avernus. It is the getting back to earth that is hard in both cases.
“Shall we be married here in the City Hall?” said the licentiate. “It’s quicker.”
“I—I had rather hoped to be married in church,” Sheila pouted. “But whatever you say—”
“It will make you late to rehearsal,” he said. He was very indulgent to her career now that he was sure of her.
“Who cares?” she murmured. “Let’s go to the Little Church Around the Corner.”
And so they did, and waited their turn at the busy altar.