He knew that, if I caught sight of anything like my uncle anywhere,
John or no John, I would go after it.
There was another good reason, however, besides the absence of my uncle,
for our not marrying: John was not yet of legal age, and who could tell
what might not lurk in his mother's threat! Who could tell what such a
woman might not have prevailed on her husband to set down in his will! I
was ready enough to marry a poor man, but I was not ready to let my lover
become a poor man by marrying me a few months sooner. Were we not happy
enough, seeing each other everyday, and mostly all day long? No doubt
people talked, but why not let them talk? The mind of the many is not the
mind of God! As to society, John called it an oyster of a divinity. He
argued, however, that probably my uncle was keeping close until he saw us
married. I answered that, if we were married, his mother would only be
the more eager to have her revenge on us all, and my uncle the more
careful of himself for our sakes. Anyhow, I said, I would not consent to
be happier than we were, until we found him. The greater happiness I
would receive only from his hand.
CHAPTER XXXI.
MY UNCLE COMES HOME.
Time went on, and it was now the depth of a cold, miserable winter. I
remember the day to which I have now come so well! It was a black day.
There was such a thickness of snow in the air, that what light got
through had a lost look.
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