"I ain't--I mean, I don't have to see him nor talk to him before, do I?" She looked panic-stricken. "Because I won't! I can't! There's some things I just can't stummick, an' meetin' that feller before the very last minute I got to do it, is one of 'em." "Of course, of course! You sha'n't meet him until the very last minute. Though he's a mighty nice chap, my nephew Peter is--a mighty nice chap." "He must be! We're both of us a mighty nice pair, ain't we? Him goin' one way an' me goin', another way, all by our lonesomes!" "The arrangement does not suit you?" he inquired politely. "Oh, it suits me all right," she said, after a moment. "I said I'd do what I was told, an' I'll do it--I ain't the sort backs down. But I ain't none too anxious to get any better acquainted with this feller than what I am right now. I ain't stuck on men, noways." "You are only sixteen, my dear," he reminded her. "Women know as much about men when they're sixteen as they do when they're sixty," said she, coldly. "There ain't but one thing to believe about 'em--an' that is, you best not believe any of 'em." "I hope," said he, stiffly, "that you have no just cause to disbelieve me, Nancy? Have I been unkind to you?" "It ain't _me_ you're either kind or yet unkind to," she told him. "It's Aunt Milly's niece: you're a little crazy on that head, I guess. It's Aunt Milly's niece you aim to marry to that nephew of yours. If I was just me myself without bein' any kin to her, you wouldn't wipe your old shoes on me." She gave him a clear, level look. "Let's don't have any lies about this thing," she begged. "I'm a poor hand for lies. I know, and I want you should know I know, and deal with me honest." She surprised him. Her next question surprised him even more. "What about my weddin'-dress?" she demanded. "I got nothin' fittin' to be married in." "I should think a plain, tailored suit--" he began. "Then you got another think comin' to you," she said, in a hard voice. "I got nothin' to do with pickin' out the groom: you fixed that to suit yourself. But I don't let no man alive pick out my dress. I want a weddin'-dress. I want one I want myself. I want it should be white satin' an' real bride-like. I've saw pictures of brides, an' I know what's due 'em. I ain't goin' to resemble just me myself, standin' up to be married in a coat-suit you get some floor-walker to pick out for me. White satin or nothin'. An' a veil and white satin slippers." He looked at her helplessly. "White satin, my dear? And a veil?" "Yes, sir. An' a shower bokay," said she, firmly. "I got to insist on the shower bokay. If I got to be a bride I'll be my kind of bride and not yours." "My dear child, of course, of course. You shall choose your own frock," said he, hastily. "Only--under the circumstances, I can't help thinking that something plain, something quite plain and simple, would be more in keeping."