"She must be, dear! I am sure she must be and I'm sure she'll like Antony when she knows him better. I hope we shall soon meet your parents. It was through your brother that you met, was it not? An old school friend. At Henley?" "Yes, Henley. Yes, Phil! Please don't ask me about it! The whole thing was such a rush. Only three days! It seems like a dream. I--I forget everything but the one great fact!" cried Juliet, taking refuge in truth, and thereby winning smiles of approval from her old-fashioned hearers, who considered such confusion suitable and becoming. They beamed upon her, and Juliet began to feel the dawnings of pride in her own diplomacy. She was getting on well; surprisingly well! She allowed herself to believe that Alice White could have done no better. "Three days, eh?" repeated the Squire complacently. "Bowled him over in three days, did you, after being bullet-proof all these years! How in the world did you manage to do it?" "I can't think!" declared Juliet, truthfully again, but she smiled as she spoke, and showed a dimple, and dropped her eyelids, so that the dark lashes rested on the pink of her cheeks, whereat the young man looked more embarrassed than ever, and the old one laughed till he choked, and offered her more cake, and called her "my dear" twice over in a single sentence, and delivered himself of the opinion that Antony was a lucky dog. "Doesn't deserve it, after all his slackness and procrastination! Let's hope he'll appreciate his good luck. But what's this nonsense about waiting two years? What's this nonsense about not going back with him at once?" Juliet looked as she felt, flustered, and taken aback. "It's so--sudden!" she pleaded, and blushed as she said the word. "I--I don't approve of marrying in a rush. Only two months before he sails. Suppose he regretted it? S-suppose he changed his mind?" "It's for him to answer that question! Speak up, Antony! Are you likely to change your mind? Do you feel any inclination to give up Miss Clare now that you have got her to promise to take you for better for worse?" "I'm not given to changing my mind, sir," Antony said, discreetly answering the last question but one. He rose hastily as he spoke, evidently afraid lest his turn of cross-questioning was about to begin, and said hurriedly: "Clare is tired, Uncle. She'll answer all your questions later on. I'm going to take her into the garden for a little fresh air, and then send her upstairs to rest." So for the next half-hour Antony Maplestone and Juliet, alias Alice, Clare, sat in a rose-shaded arbour, and discussed the plan of attack. There was so much to be settled. It was like making up a play, and coaching each other in the leading parts. Juliet was inclined to give herself airs on the success of her first scene, and discovered with surprise that her companion vouchsafed only a mitigated admiration.