"You know that Philip Ammon has been devoted to me all my
life. Now I'll tell you something else, because this looks serious for
you. I love him with all my heart. Not while he lives shall he know it,
and I will laugh at him if you tell him, but the fact remains: I intend
to marry him, but no doubt I shall tease him constantly. It's good for
a man to be uncertain. If you could see Philip's face at the quarterly
return of his ring, you would understand the fun of it. You had better
have taken your boat."
"Possibly," said Henderson calmly. "But you are the only woman in the
world for me, and while you are free, as I now see my light, I remain
near you. You know the old adage."
"But I'm not 'free!'" cried Edith Carr. "I'm telling you I am not. This
night is my public acknowledgment that Phil and I are promised, as our
world has surmised since we were children. That promise is an actual
fact, because of what I just have told you. My little fits of temper
don't count with Phil. He's been reared on them. In fact, I often
invent one in a perfect calm to see him perform. He is the most amusing
spectacle. But, please, please, do understand that I love him, and
always shall, and that we shall be married."
"Just the same, I'll wait and see it an accomplished fact," said
Henderson. "And Edith, because I love you, with the sort of love it is
worth a woman's while to inspire, I want your happiness before my own.
So I am going to say this to you, for I never dreamed you were capable
of the feeling you have displayed for Phil.
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