Had she not listened two months for the sound of the knocker, she would not have heard it above the great hum of the loom that afternoon; but hear it she did, and went to answer it, wiping her eyes. Freelove Keith stood in the porch, and out at the gate stood his horse, with a pillion behind the saddle. “Come, Lydia,” said Freelove, “I want you to get on the pillion, and ride over to Aunt Nabby’s with me.” “I can’t,” said Lydia, faintly. “I’m all over flax lint from the loom.” “Put on an apron,” said Freelove. Lydia went into the house, and tied an apron around her waist, and came out again. Freelove lifted her on the pillion, and they rode down the street without a word, until they reached the minister Elihu Eaton’s house, which was about half way to Aunt Nabby’s. Freelove drew rein. “Now we’ll go in and get married, Lydia,” said he. “Oh, Freelove, _I_ can’t!” gasped Lydia. “Now or never,” said Freelove, sternly. “I was going to have a wedding, Freelove, and a brocade gown, and cake--” “Now or never,” said Freelove. He sprang off the saddle and held up his arms. Lydia slipped down into them, and followed him, trembling, her head drooping, into the minister’s house. When they came out, a stout old woman stood waiting for them at the gate. “I’ve got married, Aunt Nabby,” said Freelove, with a gay laugh. “Well, I should think ’twas time,” replied the old woman. She chuckled; her iron-bowed spectacles flashed back the light. “I’ve got a bedquilt made for Liddy, and six yarn socks for you, Freelove,” she said; “and I’m going home and bake a pound-cake with some plums in it.” Aunt Nabby went scuttling down the road. Freelove and Lydia remounted, and went back at a canter. Freelove pulled a conch shell from his pocket, and blew as lustily as a herald. Folks ran to the windows, and Lydia hid her blushing face against her husband’s shoulder. THE END Transcriber's notes New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. Itemized changes from the original text: Page 41: "lay" is modified in "lie". The past tense is rather confusing. Page 67 contains a word, starting with "h" that was illegible in the scan. The most probable completion is "her". Page 69: "frowsly" has been changed into "frowsy". Page 168 contains an interchange of the two Evelina's. Originally the text said "Adams", but in view of the logic of the story it has to be "Leonard". Page 180: an exclamation mark has been added to the text below the picture, in order to balance this text against the list of illustrations. The author is not too consequent in the use of hyphens. Several words are encountered with and without hyphen. A small overview: Over-seas / overseas; goodman / good-man; homespun / home-spun; hearth-stone / hearthstone.