I Forbid the Banns! — page 172: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

162 “7 FORBID THE BANNS!” not accept his gift, the ex-overseer had put himself on a régime of the steadiest drinking that he had yet subjected himself to in the course of a somewhat checkered career in England and the colonies. Nothing occurred to mar the happiness of this week, so far as Julian Charlton was concerned. He took her every- where—even to the Tower. He had become fully reconciled to the idea that he was married to her. Only he could not suggest to her the pro- priety—this is not exactly the word that was in his mind—of naming the day when she would cease to live at the house in Chelsea and come to the shelter of his great love for her. It certainly requires some delicacy on the part of a man situ- ated as he was to make any suggestion on such a point. But he had now no misgiving as tothe result of the adoption of her principles regarding the nature of marriage and the sacredness of the bond. Of course it would not do for all the world to adopt these principles; for, unfortunately, all the world could not know what it was to loveas he and Bertha loved. He had too much delicacy even to suggest to Bertha the pleasure it would give himif she would allow him to take her fora day to Brackenhurst Court. The suggestion came from her one day when he had been telling her how he had sat in his great drawing room thinking of her. ‘‘T should so much like to see the place,’’ said she. ‘“You can do so to-morrow,’’ cried he. ‘‘We can leave Waterloo at 12.25 and be at the Court to lunch at three o'clock, returning to town by the train leaving Brackenhurst at six. Why should we not carry out this programme?’’ ‘‘Why not?’’ said she. ‘*Then it is settled,’’ said he. They went down to Brackenhurst by the 12.25 train the next day. Gomichbooksico