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118 : WILD MARGARET.
you to marry him early next month, Miss Margaret, I be-
seech you do not refuse!’’
Margaret sat pale'and trembling. . .
“Do not answer now,” he said. ‘‘ Youshall tell him. 1
will only say this, that, if you will let me. I will remain
your friend all through. I will see that all the arrange-
mentgy are made, and that the whole thing is kept perfectly
secret. You shall please yourself how soon you declare
the marriage, but I should advise, strongly advise that
you wait for a favorable opportunity.’’ He was too wise
to say, ‘‘ Till the earl is dead!” ’
The train stopped at Clapham, and as Blair came hurry-
ing up to the window, Austin Ambrose jumped out.
‘‘Go and enjoy yourselves,’’ he said, with a pleasant
smile, and shaking his head to a request that he would
accompany them. ‘‘‘Two are company, and three are
none. Good-bye, Miss Margaret—and remember, he
-added, in a low voice.
Margaret did remember... All the afternoon, the happy
afternoon, as she sat opposite Blair as he rowed.up the
beautiful reaches of the Thames, she thought of Austin
Ambrose’s words, and so it happened that when, later on,
they were sitting under the trees, on an island that glowed
like an emerald in the middle of the silver stream, he bent
over her and murmured:
“Madge, will you marry me next month?” she placed
her hand in his and answered: .
6é Yes 1)
oo CHAPTER XIV.
Jus? at this period a singular change came over Mr.
Austin Ambrose’s mode of life. As a rule he rarely Jef
London. At acertain hour of the day you would find him
in his chambers, at another riding or walking in the park.
at another he would be dining at his club, and every nigh
_ you were sure of seeing him at the whist table at any rate
for an hour or. two. But immediately after Margarets »
promise to marry Lord Blair, Mr. Austin Ambrose took to
taking little excursions in the environs of London, an
the special objects of attraction for him seemed to be,
_ strangely enough, seeing that he could by no means be
called a religious man. the various churches in the villages
dotted about Kent and Surrey. The smaller and more out
of the way the village, and the more dilapidated and nes:
lected the church, the more Mr. Austin Ambrose seemet
to be attracted by them.
He chose those churches where the congregation is small
and the clergyman old and feeble, and he would sit and