He would have to be very good to her in the days to come.
"Haven't you kept me waiting long enough, little girl ?" he went on with a tenderness which might easily have passed for a lover's.

"I've been very patient, haven't I?
But now my patience has come to an end.

When are you going to fix a date for our marriage ?" "We have been very happy," began Nelly with trembling lips.
"Not so happy as we are going to be.

God knows, Nell, I will do my best to make you happy, and may God bless my best!" As he said it the scent of some little plant, bruised beneath his feet, rose to his nostrils, sharply aromatic.

It was the wild thyme, the fragrance of which had hung about him those few days back, no matter how he tried to banish it.
"I will be very good to you, Nelly, if you can trust me with yourself." It was not the least bit in the world like the love-making of Nelly's dreams.