“Little wooden post! Little marble pillar! Little iceberg!” exclaimed the young man half angrily. “Are we _not_ engaged, then? Do you withdraw from your promise?” “No, dear Ronald, not one iota! I promised never to marry any other person but you, and, of course, I never shall. It was hardly worth while to have made such a promise, though! It was altogether a word of supererogation, for in _no_ case could I ever think of any other marriage. But notwithstanding that, Ronald, I can never marry you until my father withdraws his opposition, and so, dear, I must not take your ring.” “It is _you_ who are as relentless as a griffin! I do not find it so difficult to manage the old man. He did not forbid me the house the last time I went to see you there! No, although I went there on that occasion against his order!” “I suppose he thought it was no use to prohibit the visits of a man who paid no attention to his prohibition,” said Em. gravely. “No, that was not the reason! My father-in-law who is to be would have been more likely to have kicked out any other man but me, under the like circumstances. But I am really very much attached to the old man, and he knows it, and he _could_ not snub me while I smiled in his face! That was the reason why he did not repeat his prohibition or even forbid me to visit you here!” “Oh, my father would never have done the last! He had no right to say that you should not come to Edengarden. But, Ronald, he confides in your honor and in mine. And we must not abuse his confidence. He shall not be disappointed in us, Ronald. Oh, I have something so delightful to tell you, dear Ronald! I have already told you how I made known our case to my dear friend and benefactress, and I suppose that was the reason why she staid with Dr. Willet and sent you in to see me. Well, Ronald, this dear lady feels so interested in us that she is going to interfere, and she says she has a _talisman_—that is only her way of saying that she has power and influence with the commodore sufficient to win his consent to our marriage.” “The Lady of Edengarden said that?” exclaimed young Bruce in surprise. “Indeed she did, dear, and she promised faithfully to use her power in our favor.” “I do not know what power or influence this beautiful, mysterious and most interesting lady can have with my old uncle. I am very sure that he is not even acquainted with her; for on one occasion, when I first came to The Breezes, I asked him if he knew his neighbor on the island, whose name was on everybody’s lips; he said no, he didn’t know her, and had never even heard of her until very recently; and he added in his rough way that he didn’t want to know her—that he disapproved of women whose eccentricities placed their names in everybody’s mouth! That is a dark prospect for her success with my uncle, Em., my darling!”