Reliance was silent. She would have liked to say much, to continue her protest--but how could she? The essential fact in this statement was beyond contradiction. Neither Townsend nor Cook would ever consent to such a marriage--she knew it. What Bob Griffin had just said was common sense and nothing else. And yet, conscious of the responsibility forced upon her, she did not entirely surrender. She made one more plea. “Oh, Esther,” she begged, “are you _sure_ you care enough to--to go through with this? Not just now, but later, all your life? No matter if it means doin’ without all the fine things you have been used to, bein’ poor perhaps--and--” “Hush! Yes, Auntie, I am sure.” Her aunt wrung her hands. “Well,” she groaned, “I give up. I have said my say, I guess. I have done what I could. The dear Lord knows I hope we will none of us be too sorry in the years to come.” She walked across the room, stood there a moment and then turned. Her manner now was brisk and businesslike. “There!” she said. “The milk is spilled. No use tryin’ to pick it up or talk about it. What are your plans? Where is the weddin’ to be?” Esther looked at Bob and it was Bob who answered. “We haven’t decided that exactly,” he said. “All this decision of ours is so sudden that we haven’t had time to plan much of anything. My horse and buggy are out at the gate. I am going to take Esther over to my cousin’s house in South Denboro to-night. I shall go home. Then, in the morning, she will meet me at the station and we will take the early train for Boston. As soon as we can--sometime to-morrow, of course--we shall be married. Then, if I can get a stateroom and passage on the steamer, we shall--” “Hush! Wait, wait, wait! Let me understand this plan. You aren’t going to be married until to-morrow--in Boston? You were goin’ to go away from Harniss _without_ bein’ married?” Bob stared at her. “I told you,” he said, slowly, “that I should take Esther to my cousin’s house in South Denboro. I shall leave her there and go home. Look here, Miss Clark, I don’t quite understand what you mean by--” “Oh, _hush_! Mercy on us, what children you two are, after all. I am not worried about you. I know you are all right, both of you. But I am worried about what everybody else will _say_. Haven’t you lived long enough to know that the average person is only too delighted to get a chance to say a mean thing? Haven’t you heard what has been said about other young idiots in this town who have-- Oh, but there! They shan’t have the chance to say them about you. I’ll see to that. Esther, take off your things. Bob, you keep yours on, for I shall want you to go out on an errand in a minute.... Dear, dear, dear! If we only had more time. Esther, when did your uncle expect to be back from Ostable?” “Why, I don’t know exactly. Not until late; he said that to me.” “Late! Well, I wish I knew how late. Tell me, will he know you have come here?”