You need not have doubted that I should wait for you. You told me
you would come back, and I believed you, of course. To me, loyalty
is the most beautiful thing in the world.
I have been able to save a little money in the past year, by giving
music lessons, and I have rented a dear little cottage here and
filled it with what was left of mother’s furniture. I am really
doing very well, so that even if the florist shop isn’t enormously
profitable at the start, we shall be able to manage nicely.
So far the letter was delightful and comforting; but it went on:
But, Will, you know how thirsty a small town is for gossip, and it
has really been more unpleasant than I care to tell you. We had
better be married quietly as soon as you come. I’ll arrange
everything, if you will let me know when to expect you.
This terrified him. Of course, he loved Mildred, and admired her.
“But I’m not worthy of her!” he cried. “I never can be!” And he might
truthfully have added: “I never want to be!”
Impossible to say what his conscience would have driven him to, if the
landlady had not come up just then and spoken very disagreeably about
his rent; so he saw that it was right for him to be a florist. He sent a
telegram to announce his arrival three days later.