Finally he turned to the date of the day following that upon which he had bidden her “good-bye for ever.” And he read thus,—
“(Date.) I have not slept all night thinking of my darling. How could I have been so cruel? He is so patient—so kind. But he did not mean ‘good-bye.’ It cannot be. I must see him. You will come back to me, Harry, I know you will. I could cry my eyes out with vexation.”
The infatuated man shut the book, and absolutely shouted with exultation,—
“Yes! Kate, I have got your message, and I fly to your arms.”
Before carrying into effect this resolution he purchased garments more suitable to the accepted lover than the rough, and, indeed, eccentric clothes which he had picked up on his travels. Then he wrote to his brother Arthur, believing that unhappy speculator still to be in the neighbourhood of Dulverton, and the following evening he and his portmanteau were delivered safe and sound at the door of the “Lion.” There was great commotion in the principal room of that famous inn. Indeed, a high carousal was being carried on, and loud songs and louder laughter filled the establishment. Harry was in high spirits himself, and would have joined the hilarious farmers had it not been that the waiter, who conducted him to his room, informed him that the roysterers downstairs were celebrating the marriage of Miss Kate Arbery to Parson Snowe, a ceremony which had been performed that morning in the parish church.
For about an hour the disappointed lover sat silent. Then he took the Diary and wrote in it, “A wedding present for Parson Snowe.” He wrapped the volume up, addressed it to the reverend bridegroom, and trudged to the post-office with it. Arrived there, however, his better nature triumphed. He went back to the “Lion,” and undoing the packet turned once more to the page in which Kate commanded him to come back. He reverently kissed the entry. Then he thrust Kate’s Diary into the flames, and silently watched it burn away to white ashes.
Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.