love her more is that she is in love with one for whom I have the
deepest affection. Aye, and for Tony too. He also is a man after my
own heart.”
This affection he took every means to prove, and at this time the
lovers owed him much, for when the question of their immediate marriage
had been breached, the Senora had proved querulous, complaining that her
daughter was regarding her as a hampering invalid. This unjust
accusation hurt the lovers deeply, but Nicholas, laying the blame upon
the mother’s nerves rather than any settled wish, at once began to set
the matter right, and his business in their affairs had a happy and
speedy result; for at this first argument upon the matter, he returned
and told his friends that he had persuaded her to admit that she was
fond of Christopher, though him a suitable husband, and that her chief
desire was to get well quickly in order that she could take her rightful
part in the wedding festivities.
This news delighted Tony as much as the lovers, for it had been his
idea that a double wedding would be the grandest occasion, since his
parents treated Doctor Syn as another son. But it was Nicholas who made
all the arrangements, and through his energy both sets of banns were
cried upon the
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very next Sunday at Christ Church. The invit ations were sent out
immediately, and at his own request Nicholas was appointed Best Man in
attendance under Doctor Syn.
Some days before the actual ceremony, the Pemburys and the Cobtrees
set out with a vast retinue of servants from distant Romney Mars h. All
through the preparations Doctor Syn had nothing but admiration for
Nicholas, who seemed capable of running everybody’s business and his own
as well. It was he who even arranged the two honeymoons.
“I suggest,” he said, “that Tony and his bride accept my offer of the
Iffley Farm in the Cotswolds. The house is comfortable, though remote,
and that scenery romantic. They will be well cared for by my tenants.
Then, since Sir Charles and Lady Cobtree are to be in London for their
annual visit, what better than that you, Christopher, should take
Imogene to Dymchurch? You have been offered the Court-House during the
family’s absence, and Imogene will have opportunity to know the village
which will be her future home, when you decide to leave Oxford and
become Vicar of the Marsh.”
He also undertook the convey the Senora back to Spain aboard his
trading-ship, for the Senora had decided to return to her own people
after the wedding.
Although Nicholas proved himself a “friend of the family” indeed.
Needless to dwell on the gay happiness of those festivities. Thanks
to Nicholas, all went with a swing, and when at last the radiant couples
drove off in their respective carriages, the many guests declared that
never had young married people started out upon the voyages of mutual
responsibilities under more favourable auspices. The one tinge of
sadness was Imogene’s parting from her mother, but it was understood
that as soon as times permitted, she and her husband would take passage
with Nicholas and visit her.
The days that followed were the happiest of the Doctor’s life. He
had been granted a month’s vacation from his College duties. He was
then to return to Oxford work until his induction to the Dymchurch
living. Sir Charles had arranged that t his should be as soon as
possible, since the old Vicar was only too anxious to retire to private
life. This kindly old man allowed the young couple free access to their
future home, and Doctor Syn was thus enabled to plan the various
alterations which Imogene suggested for the house. On the assurance from
his uncle, Old Solomon Syn, the Lydd attorney, that there was no great
need to study economy, the young parson spent freely, buying whatever
furniture and house trimmings pleased his bride. These two rooms were
to be thrown into one, to afford the Doctor a more spacious study. This
he allowed on her suggestion, on condition that she allowed the
breakfast-room to be discarded to give more space to her drawing -room.
Each proposal gave birth to a dozen more, until the bewildered old Vicar
mildly remarked that they might as well pull the old house down and
start to build a fresh.
“Oh no!” cried Imogene. “I love these whitewashed walls. They remind
me of the white walls of Spain. And if we built another wing to match
that of the new kitchens, the old Vicarage would be like an ancient gem
in a new setting.” And so another wing was planned.
“But what use we shall we put the extra rooms to, I cannot imagine.”
“I suggest,” said the old man —”and hope so too—that ere long you
may need nurseries.”
“Of course,” replied the delighted Imogene, without the vestige of a
blush. “We must have house room for the children, Christopher.”
Eyeing the back of the house, where the garden ran down in a gentle
slope to meet a broad dyke, Imogene clapped her hands as a new idea was
born.
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“Although I must not disturb you when you work in your library, we
would feel nearer to each other if we joined our rooms upon the outside.
We could keep our windows wide open and feel we were in the same room.”
“Whatever do you mean?” laughed the Doctor.
“Outside our bedroom window,” she explained, “we could build a
balcony. Supported by pillars from the garden which we can pave, we
would have a lovely Span ish alcove outside our sitting-rooms. In the
sun, if it ever shines here, we could sit under it, and when Nicholas
comes to visit us he will be able to sing us his lovely Spanish songs.
Oh, Christopher, I shall always sit there if you will have it built.
You will? You must. To please me?”
All this was duly explained to the builder, an old friend of the Syn
family and a Dymchurch man, who could build anything from a boat to a
castle. His name was Wright, and it was he who first opened Doctor’s
Syn’s eyes to something about his wife which he would never have though
possible.
“I should think well, Reverend Sir,” he advised. “these alterations
will cost money which will be wasted should your lady wife decide to
move. She is no lover of our marsh, I can see.”
This attitude had never occurred to Doctor Syn. Loving the Marsh as
he did in all weathers, he imagined that others would feel the same
appreciation for it. This worried him, and whenever he saw a sad look
come into his bride’s face, he wondered whether it was homesickness for
Spain and mother, or dislike of the place that was to be her home.
When she realized that he was disappointed at her lack of enthusiasm
for the Marsh, she pretended a growing liking for it, but as the time
approached for their return to Oxford she could not disguise her joy.
He did not know whether this was occasioned by the thought leaving the
Marsh, or the prospect of returning to White Friars, where they had
taken rooms. When he asked her outright she gave a different reason.
She wanted to be at Oxford to welcome Nicholas on his return from Spain.
“Of course you do,” cried Syn cheerfully. “And so do I. I miss the
jolly rascal more than I can say.”
Chapter 8
The Elopement
Soon after their return to Oxford they received a letter from
Nicholas stating that urgent business had kept him in Spain, and that he