Mr. Belamour himself suggested the formula in which
she might send her consent to Lady Belamour, begging at the same time
to retain the company of the little Misses Wayland. To her father
she wrote such a letter as might satisfy all doubts as to the absence
of all repugnance to the match, and though the Major had sacrificed
all to love and honour himself, _mariages de convenance_ were still so
much the rule, and wives, bestowed in all passiveness with unawakened
hearts, so often proved loving and happy matrons, that it would have
been held unreasonable to demand more than absence of dislike on the
part of the bride.
Therewith things returned to their usual course, and she was beginning
to feel as if all had been a dream, when one evening, about a week
later, her suitor appeared to have one of those embarrassing fits of
youthful ardour; her hand was passionately seized, caressed, toyed
with by a warm strong hand, and kissed by lips that left a burning
impression and that were no longer hairy. Surely he had been shaving!
Was the time for which he bade her wait, his full recovery, and the
resumption of the youthfulness that seemed to come on him in fits
and starts, and then to ebb away, and leave him the grave courteous
old man she had first known? And why was it always in a whisper that
he spoke forth all those endearments which thrilled her with such
strange emotions?
When she came into the light, she found her fourth finger encircled
with an exquisite emerald ring, which seemed to bind her to her fate,
and make her situation tangible.
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