That evening at Bragton was rather long and rather dull.  It was almost the first that she had ever passed in company with Reginald, and there now seemed to be a necessity of doing something peculiar, whereas there was nothing peculiar to be done.  It was his custom to betake himself to his books after dinner; but he could hardly do so with ease in company with the girl who had just promised him to be his wife.  Lady Ushant too wished to show her extreme joy, and made flattering but vain attempts to be ecstatic.  Mary, to tell the truth, was longing for solitude, feeling that she could not yet realise her happiness.

Not even when she was in bed could she reduce her mind to order.  It would have been all but impossible even had he remained the comparative humble lord of Hoppet Hall;—­but that the squire of Bragton should be her promised husband was a marvel so great that from every short slumber, she waked with fear of treacherous dreams.  A minute’s sleep might rob her of her joy and declare to her in the moment of waking that it was all an hallucination.  It was not that he was dearer to her, or that her condition was the happier, because of his position and wealth; but that the chance of his inheritance had lifted him so infinitely above her!  She thought of the little room at home which she generally shared with one of her sisters, of her all too scanty wardrobe, of her daily tasks about the house, of her stepmother’s late severity, and of her father’s cares.  Surely he would not hinder her from being good to them; surely he would let the young girls come to her from time to time!  What an added happiness it would be if he would allow her to pass on to them some sparks of the prosperity which he was bestowing on her.  And then her thoughts travelled on to poor Larry.  Would he not be more contented now;—­now, when he would be certain that no further frantic efforts could avail him anything.  Poor Larry!  Would Reginald permit her to regard him as a friend?  And would he submit to friendly treatment?  She could look forward and see him happy with his wife, the best loved of their neighbours;—­ for who was there in the world better than Larry?  But she did not know how two men who had both been her lovers, would allow themselves to be brought together.  But, oh, what peril had been there!  It was but the other day she had striven so hard to give the lie to her love and to become Larry’s wife.  She shuddered beneath the bedclothes as she thought of the danger she had run.  One word would have changed all her Paradise into a perpetual wail of tears and waste of desolation.  When she woke in the morning from her long sleep an effort was wanting to tell her that it was all true.  Oh, if it had slipped from her then;—­if she had waked after such a dream to find herself loving in despair with a sore bosom and angry heart!