He went, but only to be disappointed; Alma was not at home.  To make amends, she sent him a note that evening, asking him to call at twelve the next day, and to stay to luncheon.  When he entered the room, the first object his eye fell upon was the old school atlas, lying open on the table at the map of England and Wales.

And the day appointed was the twentieth of December.

The wedding was to be the simplest conceivable.  No costume, no bridesmaid or hulking groomsman, no invitations; no announcement to anyone until the day had passed, save only to Dora Leach, who would be summoned as if for some ordinary occasion of friendship, and then be carried off to the church.

‘It will insure my smiling all through the ordeal,’ said Alma to her step-mother; ‘Dora’s face will be such a study!’

‘My dear,’ began Mrs. Frothingham very earnestly, ’you are quite sure ——­’

’More than sure, if that’s possible.  And Harvey throws up his hat at being let off so easily.  He dreaded the ceremony.’

Which was very true, though Rolfe had not divulged it.

His personal possessions were now to be made ready for removal.  The books represented nearly all that he could carry away from his old rooms, but they were a solid addendum to the garnishing of home.  For a moment he thought of selling a few score of volumes.  Would he ever really want those monumental tomes —­ the six folios of Muratori, for instance, which he liked to possess, but had never used?  Thereby hung the great, the unanswerable question:  How was he going to spend his life as a married man?  Was it probable that he would be come a serious student, or even that he would study as much as heretofore?  No foreseeing; the future must shape itself, even as the past had done.  After all, why dismember his library for the sake of saving a few shillings on carriage?  If he did not use the books himself ——­

A thought flashed through him which made his brain, unsteady.  If he did not use the books himself, perhaps ——­

He tried to laugh, but for five minutes was remarkably sober.  No, no; of course he would keep his library intact.

And now there was a duty to perform:  he must write to his friends, make known his marriage; the letters to be posted only on the day of fate.  Dear old Basil Morton —­ how he would stare!  Morton should soon come down into Wales, and there would be great quaffing and smoking and talking into the small hours; a jolly anticipation!  And Hugh Carnaby!  Hugh would throw up his great arms, clench his huge red fists, and roar with mocking laughter.  Good old boy! out there on the other side of the world, perhaps throwing away his money, with the deft help of a swindler.  And the poor lad, Cecil Morphew! who assuredly would never pay back that fifty pounds —­ to which he was heartily welcome.  Morphew had kept his promise to quit the garret in Chelsea, but what was since become of him Harvey knew not; the project of their going together into Wales had, of course, fallen through.