Although it had been hoped that there would have been no delay to the marriage of Eugene and Nellie, a variety of circumstances made it desirable that a postponement of about a month should take place. In the present posture of affairs it would have been impossible for Mr. O'Donnell to settle money on his son; or, indeed, to give him anything worth speaking of, beyond the salary he drew in connection with the firm. When Eugene had recovered sufficient strength to bear the shock, he had been told of the misfortune which had overtaken his father in business. When he heard it he made little of it. He thought little of everything except his approaching marriage. It was Nellie who broke the news to him. She had been timid, fearful, as she approached the subject. She had prepared the way by saying that all those people who were dear to him were in good health and spirits, but that a certain unpleasant thing had occurred--a very unpleasant thing--a terribly unpleasant thing of a purely business nature; in fact, his father had lost a vast sum of money--all his savings. The young man looked grave, and said he was very sorry for the poor old man; but that--as long as the business held they should be more than comfortable, and that he was sure Nellie did not want riches such as would be his if this misfortune had not arisen. What exactly had happened? She told him all. He was serious, and said it was too bad--too hard on the governor, who was the best of men. In an interview later with his father, the latter told him that for the present he was not in a position to make any settlement whatever, but that if his son was contented to marry on his present salary, there would be no opposition. The son said he would be more than contented; that he had no extravagant habits or expensive tastes, and that he and Nellie could manage very well on the five hundred pounds a year his father allowed him. The old man said he had felt quite sure his son would be satisfied; but what would Nellie say, in the face of former promises he, the father, had made? The young man laughed a strong, joyous, wholesome laugh, and told his father that Nellie would marry him on a pound a week. "For you know, sir," he said, "she is not used to luxuries. She does not want them, and she is the most sensible, as she is the best, girl in the world." Then Eugene's father told his son of what Lavirotte had promised. "I am not surprised, father, to hear he has offered to help us. I always told you he was true as steel." At the word steel he winced, but recovered himself instantly. "People here don't like him, because they can't understand his quick southern ways. But the longer you know him the better you like him, and the more you'll trust him."