"You will?" Ninian cried.
"I will," she said, laughing tremulously, to prove that she too could join in, could be as merry as the rest.
"And I will. There, by Jove, now have we entertained you, or haven't we?" Ninian laughed and pounded his soft fist on the table.
"Oh, say, honestly!" Ina was shocked. "I don't think you ought to—holy things——what's the matter, Dwightie?"
Dwight Herbert Deacon's eyes were staring and his face was scarlet.
"Say, by George," he said, "a civil wedding is binding in this state."
"A civil wedding? Oh, well—" Ninian dismissed it.
"But I," said Dwight, "happen to be a magistrate."
They looked at one another foolishly. Dwight sprang up with the indeterminate idea of inquiring something of some one, circled about and returned. Ina had taken his chair and sat clasping Lulu's hand. Ninian continued to laugh.
"I never saw one done so offhand," said Dwight. "But what you've said is all you have to say according to law. And there don't have to be witnesses ... say!" he said, and sat down again.