There he found Mrs. Masters and when he told her what had
passed she assured him that the thing was as good as settled.
Everybody knew, she said, that when a girl doubted she meant to
yield. And what were two months? The time would have nearly gone by
the end of her visit to Cheltenham. It was now early in December,
and they might be married and settled at home before the end of
April. Mrs. Masters, to give him courage, took out a bottle of
currant wine and drank his health, and told him that in three
months' time she would give him a kiss and call him her son. And
she believed what she said. This, she thought, was merely Mary's
way of letting herself down without a sudden fall.
Then the attorney came in and also congratulated him. When the
attorney was told that Mary had taken two months for her decision
he also felt that the matter was almost as good as settled. This at
any rate was clear to him,--that the existing misery of his
household would for the present cease, and that Mary would be
allowed to go upon her visit without further opposition. He at
present did not think it wise to say another word to Mary about the
young man; nor would Mrs. Masters condescend to do so. Mary would
of course now accept her lover like any other girl, and had been
such a fool,--so thought Mrs. Masters,--that she had thoroughly
deserved to lose him.
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