"
"Are you in earnest?" he cried, scarcely believing that he heard
aright.
"She loves you with all her soul, and you love her. You are her
protector, the stone wall between her and all the unkind things of
life. She needs you now. Tomorrow may bring the hour of trial. It is
best that she should have you to lean upon. It must be to-night. Come;
we will go to her. It is nearly three o'clock. There is much to be
done between now and the time that your train starts for Richmond. I
want her to be in Jenison Hall to-morrow."
Together they went to Christine. Half an hour later he hurried away
from the house, a dozen imperative duties to be performed between that
time and seven o'clock. He went with a joyous spirit, a leaping heart,
and with the will to accomplish all that was required of him in that
short space of time.
At seven Christine and he were to be married in the huge, old-
fashioned drawing-room; at eight-thirty they would be on board the
train, bound for Jenison Hall. He was to take her away with him, far
from all the ugly possibilities that crept up from all sides to
threaten her.
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