I had allowed my mind to become so
twisted by my fears for his safety that, as I tell you, I suspected
the letter to be counterfeit at first. I telegraphed to his estate,
and received a prompt reply saying that his sister was much better,
and that he was already on his way back, and would reach me at eleven
to-night. So that's what happens when a grown man gets a fit of
nerves. I drew the most gloomy conclusions from the fact that I had
been refused admission to the Foreign Office and the Admiralty.
Yesterday that was all explained away. The business is at last
concluded, and I was shown copies of the letters which have been
forwarded to my own chiefs at home. Nothing could be more
satisfactory. To-morrow Jack and I will be off to England together.
"My dearest Dorothy (second time of asking), I am not a rich man, but
then, in spite of your little fortune of Bar Harbor, you are not a
rich woman, so we stand on an equality in that, even though you are so
much my superior in everything else. I have five hundred pounds a
year, which is something less than two thousand five hundred dollars,
left me by my father. This is independent of my profession. I am very
certain I will succeed in the Navy now that the Russian Government has
sent those letters, so, the moment I was assured of that, I determined
to write and ask you to be my wife. Will you forgive my impatience,
and pander to it by cabling to me at the Bluewater Club, Pall Mall,
the word 'Yes' or the word 'Undecided'? I shall not allow you the
privilege of cabling 'No.
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