"
"Who is the husband?" asked Waitstill dryly, as she wiped her
eyes and leaned her elbow on the table.
"Who could it be but Mark? Has there ever been any one but Mark?"
"I should have said that there were several, in these past few
months."
Waitstill's tone showed clearly that she was still grieved and
hurt beyond her power to conceal.
"I have never thought of marrying any one but Mark, and not even
of marrying him till a little while ago," said Patty. "Now do not
draw away from me and look out of the window as if we were not
sisters, or you will break my heart. Turn your eyes to mine and
believe in me, Waity, while I tell you everything, as I have so
longed to do all these nights and days. Mark and I have loved
each other for a long, long time. It was only play at first, but
we were young and foolish and did not understand what was really
happening between us."
"You are both of you only a few months older than when you were
'young and foolish,'" objected Waitstill.
"Yes, we are--years and years! Five weeks ago I promised Mark
that I would marry him; but how was I ever to keep my word
publicly? You have noticed how insultingly father treats him of
late, passing him by without a word when he meets him in the
street? You remember, too, that he has never gone to Lawyer
Wilson for advice, or put any business in his hands since
spring?"
"The Wilsons are among father's aversions, that is all you can
say; it is no use to try and explain them or rebel against them,"
Waitstill answered wearily.
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