will. And
I shall marry him."

"Well, wait till he repeats his offer. I think he may do it, now that he
knows--something I told him. I don't for a moment dispute that it is the
most proper thing for you to marry him. Much as I have objected to him
in bygone days, I agree with you now, you may be sure. It is the only
way out of a false position, and a very galling one."

"What did you tell him?"

"That he was standing in the way of another lover of yours."

"Aunt," said Thomasin, with round eyes, "what DO you mean?"

"Don't be alarmed; it was my duty. I can say no more about it now, but
when it is over I will tell you exactly what I said, and why I said it."

Thomasin was perforce content.

"And you will keep the secret of my would-be marriage from Clym for the
present?" she next asked.

"I have given my word to. But what is the use of it? He must soon know
what has happened. A mere look at your face will show him that something
is wrong."

Thomasin turned and regarded her aunt from the tree. "Now, hearken to
me," she said, her delicate voice expanding into firmness by a force
which was other than physical. "Tell him nothing. If he finds out that I
am not worthy to be his cousin, let him. But, since he loved me once, we
will not pain him by telling him my trouble too soon. The air is full of
the story, I know; but gossips will not dare to speak of it to him for
the first few days. His closeness to me is the very thing that will
hinder the tale from reaching him early. If I am not made safe from
sneers in a week or two I will tell him myself."

The earnestness with which Thomasin spoke prevented further objections.
Her aunt simply said, "Very well. He should by rights have been told at
the time that the wedding was going to be. He will never forgive you for
your secrecy."

"Yes, he will, when he knows it was because I wished to spare him, and
that I did not expect him home so soon. And you must not let me stand in
the way of your Christmas party. Putting it off would only make matters
worse."

"Of course I shall not. I do not wish to show myself beaten before all
Egdon, and the sport of a man like Wildeve. We have enough berries now,
I think, and we had better take them home. By the time we have decked
the house with this and hung up the mistletoe, we must think of starting
to meet him."

Thomasin came out of the tree, shook from her hair and dress the loose
berries which had fallen thereon, and went dow