"Good-bye," I said to Miss Middleton. "It's been jolly to see you." I grasped my parcel firmly as the train began to move. "I'm always glad to help Mrs. Middleton, and if ever I can do so again be sure to let me know." "I will," said Miss Middleton. The train went out of the station, and my parcel and I looked about for a cab. GETTING MARRIED GETTING MARRIED I.--THE DAY Probably you thought that getting married was quite a simple business. So did I. We were both wrong; it is the very dickens. Of course, I am not going to draw back now. As I keep telling Celia, her Ronald is a man of powerful fibre, and when he says he will do a thing he does it--eventually. She shall have her wedding all right; I have sworn it. But I do wish that there weren't so many things to be arranged first. The fact that we had to fix a day was broken to me one afternoon when Celia was showing me to some relatives of hers in the Addison Road. I got entangled with an elderly cousin on the hearth-rug; and though I know nothing about motor-bicycles I talked about them for several hours under the impression that they were his subject. It turned out afterwards that he was equally ignorant of them, but thought they were mine. Perhaps we shall get on better at a second meeting. However, just when we were both thoroughly sick of each other, Celia broke off her gay chat with an aunt to say to me: "By the way, Ronald, we did settle on the eleventh, didn't we?" I looked at her blankly, my mind naturally full of motor-bicycles. "The wedding," smiled Celia. "Right-o," I said with enthusiasm. I was glad to be assured that I should not go on talking about motor-bicycles for ever, and that on the eleventh, anyhow, there would be a short interruption for the ceremony. Feeling almost friendly to the cousin, I plunged into his favourite subject again. On the way home Celia returned to the matter. "Or you would rather it was the twelfth?" she asked. "I've never heard a word about this before," I said. "It all comes as a surprise to me." "Why, I'm _always_ asking you." "Well, it's very forward of you, and I don't know what young people are coming to nowadays. Celia, what's the _good_ of my talking to your cousin for three hours about motor-bicycling? Surely one can get married just as well without that?" "One can't get married without settling the day," said Celia, coming cleverly back to the point.