"Come to dinner with me at Seaview, and bring your father .-- Mary." When Morris drove to Seaview that evening he was as a man is in a dream.
Sorrow had done its work on him, agonising his nerves, till at length they seemed to be blunted as with a very excess of pain, much as the nerves of the victims of the Inquisition were sometimes blunted, till at length they could scarcely feel the pincers bite or the irons burn.
Always abstemious, also, for this last twelve days he had scarcely swallowed enough food to support him, with the result that his body weakened and suffered with his mind.
Then there was a third trouble to contend with,--the dull and gnawing sense of shame which seemed to eat into his heart.

In actual fact, he had been faithful enough to Mary, but in mind he was most unfaithful.
How could he come to her, the woman who was to be his wife, the woman who had dealt so well by him, with the memory of that spiritual marriage at the altar of the Dead Church still burning in his brain--that marriage which now was consecrated and immortalised by death?
What had he to give her that was worth her taking?
he, who if the truth were known, shrank from all idea of union with any earthly woman; who longed only to be allowed to live out his time in a solitude as complete as he could find or fashion?
It was monstrous; it was shameful; and then and there he determined that before ever he stood in Monksland church by the side of Mary Porson, at least he would tell her the truth, and give her leave to choose.

To his other sins against her deceit should not be added.
"Might I suggest, Morris," said the Colonel, who as they drove, had been watching his son's face furtively by the light of the brougham lamp--"might I suggest that, under all the circumstances, Mary would perhaps appreciate an air a little less reminiscent of funerals?
You may recollect that several months have passed since you parted." "Yes," said Morris, "and a great deal has happened in that time." "Of course, her father is dead." The Colonel alluded to no other death.
"Poor Porson! How painfully that beastly window in the dining-room will remind me of him! Come, here we are; pull yourself together, old fellow." Morris obeyed as best he could, and presently found himself following the Colonel into the drawing-room, for once in his life, as he reflected, heartily glad to have the advantage of his parent's society.
He could scarcely be expected to be very demonstrative and lover-like under the fire of that observant eyeglass.
As they entered the drawing-room by one door, Mary, looking very handsome and imposing in a low black dress, which became her fair beauty admirably, appeared at the other.

Catching sight of Morris, she ran, or rather glided, forward with the graceful gait that was one of her distinctions, and caught him by both hands, bending her face towards him in open and unmistakable invitation.
In a moment it was over somehow, and she was saying: "Morris, how thin you look, and there are great black lines under your eyes! Uncle, what have you been doing to him ?" "When I have had the pleasure of saying, How-do-you-do to you, my dear," he replied in a somewhat offended voice--for the Colonel was not fond of being overlooked, even in favour of an interesting son--"I shall be happy to do my best to answer your question." "Oh! I am so sorry," she said, advancing her forehead to be kissed; "but we saw each other the other day, didn't we, and one can't embrace two people at once, and of course one must begin somewhere.

But, why have you made him so thin ?" The Colonel surveyed Morris critically with his eyeglass.
"Really, my dear Mary," he replied, "I am not responsible for the variations in my son's habit of body." Then, as Morris turned away irritably, he added in a stage whisper, "He's been a bit upset, poor fellow! He felt your father's death dreadfully." Mary winced a little, then, recovering her vivacity, said: "Well, at any rate, uncle, I am glad to see that nothing of the sort has affected your health; I never saw you looking better." "Ah! my dear, as we grow older we learn resignation----" "And how to look after ourselves," thought Mary.
At that moment dinner was announced, and she went in on Morris's arm, the Colonel gallantly insisting that it should be so.