"I am content! The second love of Mabel Aylett must ever be more to
me than the first of any other woman!"
True, he nearly spoiled all the next minute, by producing from his
pocket a wee velvet case, from which he extracted a valuable diamond
ring, and proceeded, then and there, in the shadow of the
accommodating curtain, to fit it upon her finger. He had foreseen
that she would not be hardly won, and with characteristic providence
had prepared himself for the event.
The blood leaped to Mabel's temples and the fire to her eye, at the
prompt seal set by the practical non-enthusiast upon the contract,
but she bit her lip, and submitted after a second of thought. He
owed his exemption from rebuke to her memory of his latest
utterance. She could not mistake the tone of genuine feeling, and
she overlooked the breach of taste that followed; treasured up the
heart-saying as one of the few souvenirs she cared to preserve of
his courtship.
"If he is content, I need not be miserable," was the consolatory
reflection with which she took upon herself her new and binding
obligations.