'
'I like him for his independence; but he mustn't be reckless,' said
Mary, severely.
He was to be the master in all things! and yet she was to exercise a
restraining influence, she was to guard him against his own weaknesses,
his too generous impulses. Her voice was to be the voice of prudence.
This is how Mary understood the marriage tie.
Under ordinary conditions Mary would have been in the avenue, lying in
wait for her lover, eager to get the very first glimpse of him when he
arrived, to see him before he had brushed the dust of the journey from
his raiment. But to-day she hung back. She stayed in her grandmother's
room and sat beside the sofa, shy, and even a little downcast. This
lover who was so soon to be transformed into a husband was a formidable
personage. She dare not rush forth to greet him. Perhaps he had changed
his mind by this time, and was sorry he had ever asked her to marry him.
Perhaps he thought he was being hustled into a marriage. He had been
told that he was to wait at least a year. And now, all in a moment, he
was sent off to get a special licence.
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