Ned. She’s twenty-one. He’s not her guardian now.
Alma. But he’s your father, and you’ve done a thing like this. She, too!
Ned. It wasn’t her fault. It was mine, if it was anyone’s. But it was no use speaking to my father. Lucy wanted to, but I knew more than she did. The governor’s the best old fellow in the world, but upon certain points he is as obstinate as—as——
Alma. His son.
Ned. As I am, if you like.
Alma. Why was it no use speaking to him?
Ned. Because he would never have given his consent. The fact is, Lucy’s mother was separated from her husband. She married very young, and he left her before she was twenty. Not being able to get a divorce, of course she couldn’t marry again, and consequently Lucy’s father couldn’t marry her. That’s the whole mystery. Lucy doesn’t know it, but I did, and I knew it was useless talking. So we were married secretly, this year.
Alma. And when do you propose to acknowledge your wife?
Ned. I don’t know yet, (crosses, L.) but when the right time comes.
Alma. The right time was the day you married her.