But Miriam, for
goodness sake don't look that way--you scare me almost to death! And,
whatever you do, never let anybody know that I told you this; because,
if you did, Olly would be very much grieved at me; for he confided it to
me as a dead secret, and bound me up to secrecy, too; but I thought as
it concerned you so much, it would be no harm to tell you, if you would
not tell it again; and so when I was promising, I made a mental
reservation in favor of yourself. And so I have told you; and now you
mustn't betray me, Miriam."
"It is false! all that you have told me is false! say that It is false!
tell me so! speak! speak!" cried Miriam, wildly.
"It is not false--it is true as Gospel, every word of it--nor is it any
mistake. Because Olly saw the whole thing, and told me all about it. The
way of it was, that Olly overheard them in the Congressional Library
arranging the marriage--the gentleman was going to depart for Europe,
and wished to secure the lady's hand before he went--and at the same
time, for some reason or other, he wished the marriage to be kept
secret. Olly owns that it was none of his business, but that curiosity
got the upper hand of him, so he listened, and he heard them call each
other 'Thurston' and 'Marian'--and when they left the library, he
followed them--and so, unseen, he witnessed the private marriage
ceremony, at which they still answered to the names of 'Thurston' and
'Marian.
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