nson, "let bygones be bygones."

"With all my heart," said she. "All of them, if you like."

"No, not quite all, Maryanne. Those moments in which I first declared
what I felt for you can never be bygones for me. I have never
faltered in my love; and now, if you choose to accept my hand in the
presence of your father, there it is."

"God bless you, my boy! God bless you!" said Mr. Brown.

"Come, Maryanne," said Miss Twizzle, "he has spoke out now, quite
manly; and you should give him an answer."

"But he is so imperious, Polly! If he only sees me speaking to
another, in the way of civility--as, of course, I must,--he's up with
his grand ways, and I'm put in such a trembling that I don't know how
to open my mouth."

Of course, every one will know how the affair ended on that evening.
The quarrels of lovers have ever been the renewal of love. Miss Brown
did accept Mr. Robinson's vows; Mr. Brown did go to sleep; Tom, whose
salary was about to be raised to the matrimonial point, did arrive;
and the evening was passed in bliss and harmony.

Then, again, for a week or two did George Robinson walk upon roses.
It could not now be thrown in his teeth that some other suitor was
an established tradesman; for such also was his proud position. He
was one of that firm whose name was already being discussed in the
commercial world, and could feel that the path to glory was open
beneath his feet. It was during these days that those original ideas
as to the name and colour of the house, and as to its architectural
ornamentation, came from his brain, and that he penned many of those
advertisements which afterwards made his reputation so great. It was
then that he so plainly declared his resolve to have his own way in
his own department, and startled his partners by the firmness of his
purpose. It need hardly be said that gratified love was the source
from whence he drew his inspiration.

"And now let us name the day," said Robinson, as soon as that other
day,--the opening day for Magenta House,--had been settled. All
nature would then be smiling. It would be the merry month of May; and
Robinson suggested that, after the toil of the first fortnight of
the opening, a day's holiday for matrimonial purposes might well be
accorded to him. "We'll go to the bowers of Richmond, Maryanne," said
he.

"God bless you, my children," said Mr. Brown. "And as for the
holiday, Jones shall see the shutters down, and I will see them up
again."