"Then, am I to understand, Mr. Ormsby, that it is your intention to persist in your suit, despite anything I can say or urge to the contrary?"
"That is what I certainly wish you to understand."
"Will nothing move you from your resolve?"
"Nothing whatever."
"What is there to hinder me from taking Anna away and placing her directly under the charge of Mr. Drelincourt? That is a possibility you seem to have lost sight of."
"Not at all. The question is, if you were to propose any such measure, would Anna agree to it? I affirm distinctly that she would not. The time has gone by, my dear madam, when your wishes were a law to her. Allow me to tell you this: I have Anna's distinct promise to marry me."
Under the circumstances, he might perhaps be excused the smile of exultation and gratified vanity which overspread his features; but, for all that, Mrs. Jenwyn felt a strong desire to slap his face vigorously with both hands.
What he had just told her did not surprise her greatly. From the moment John Clisby stated that he had seen Ormsby kiss Anna she had known that matters must have come to a serious pass between them.
She sat for a few moments as if considering. Then she said: "If Anna has indeed given you such a promise as you say she has, the matter at once assumes a very different complexion. All the more needful is it that Mr. Drelincourt should at once be communicated with, in order that either he or her trustees may be in a position to decide where and with whom Anna's home shall be during the remaining term of her minority."
"Pardon me, my dear madam, but there will be no need whatever for either you or any one else to enter into any such arrangements with regard to Miss Drelincourt's future. In less than a month from now her home will be with me. The dear girl has consented to make me the happiest of men as soon as the needful arrangements for our marriage can be concluded."