"Marry--yes, marry me, Guida. That will make all right; that will bind
us together for ever. Have you never thought of that?"

"Oh, never, never!" she answered. It was true, she had never thought of
that; there had not been time. Too much had come all at once. "Why
should I? I cannot--cannot. Oh, it could not be--not at least for a
long, long time, not for years and years, Philip."

"Guida," he answered gravely and persistently, "I want you to marry me--
to-morrow."

She was overwhelmed. She could scarcely speak. "To-morrow--to-morrow,
Philip? You are laughing at me. I could not--how could I marry you
to-morrow?"

"Guida, dearest,"--he took her hands more tightly now--"you must indeed.
The day after to-morrow my ship is going to Portsmouth for two months.
Then we return again here, but I will not go now unless I go as your
husband!"

"Oh, no, I could not--it is impossible, Philip! It is madness--it is
wrong. My grandfather--"

"Your grandfather need not know, sweetheart."

"How can you say such wicked things, Philip?"

"My dearest, it is not necessary for him to know. I don't want any one
to know until I come back from Portsmouth. Then I shall have a ship of