"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.




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