“We will go back there presently, when we have had a few minutes to ourselves. Too many curious eyes were upon us. When one is desperately in love, as I am, one wants solitude. But you will soon be mine.”
“Not quite so soon as we anticipated. Some little delay, I find, will be unavoidable.”
“I hope not,” said Lord Courland, with a look of disappointment. “I would rather the marriage were expedited than delayed.”
“I am afraid that will be quite impossible,” said Teresa. “I shall have to make some preparatory arrangements.”
“I thought the property was entirely in your own hands?” he said.
“So it is,” she replied. “And there is really nothing to prevent the marriage from taking place immediately.”
“Then yield to my impatience, I beseech you!”
“I have consulted my lawyer, and he advises a little delay.”
“Lawyers always are tedious. They have no consideration for one's feelings. Even when nothing has to be done but draw up a settlement, they will make a long job of it. I fancied all might have been arranged in a few days, signed, sealed, and delivered.”
“Perhaps it may,” said Teresa. “But we are getting quite serious in our discourse. All matters of business must be deferred till to-morrow, when I doubt not they can be satisfactorily arranged.”