Brock waited until she was out of sight. "She seems to be onto us, as
Freddie would say. But what do we care? I'd like to stand on top of the
Bandjoch and shout the news to the world. Wouldn't you, dearest?"

"The world wouldn't hear us, dear," she said coolly. "Besides, it's
raining up there. Just look at it sweeping down upon us! Goodness!"

He laughed hilariously, amused by her attempt to be casual and
indifferent. "You can't turn it off so easily as that, dearest," he
cried. "Come! While it rains we may plan. You will marry me--to-morrow?"

"No!" she cried, aghast. "How utterly ridiculous!"

"Well, then, day after to-morrow?"

"No, no--nor week after next. I--"

"See here, Connie, we've got some one else to consider as well as
ourselves. In order to square it all up for Edith, we must be able to
say to these people that we haven't been frivolling--that we are going
to be married at once. That will let Edith out of the difficulty, and
everything will look rosy at the outset. If we put it off, the world
will have said things in its ignorance that she can never refute, simply
because the world doesn't stop long enough to hear two sides of a story
unless they are given pretty closely together. Now Edith is counting on
us to put the peeping-Tom Rodneys and the charitable Carneys to rout
with our own little bombshell. They're saying nasty things about all
of us. They're calling you a vile thing for stealing your sister's
husband, and they're calling me a dog for what I'm doing. No telling
what they'll be saying if we don't step into the breach as soon as it is