you know you must promise and vow to obey, Miss Isabel," said Mr. Lufton.
"No, indeed! I'll get a good-natured minister like the one that married my father and mother. He always left out the Word 'obey,' for, as he said, he did not know what bargain the couple had made between themselves, and he saw no good in interfering with it; and, what is more, he thought that if the wife was willing to obey, and the husband could make her do it, she'd submit to his orders whether she promised to do it or not, and if she had made up her mind to the contrary, all the vows under heaven would not make her submissive. That's what I call a sensible man! he gave plenty of good advice and cautioning at weddings and christenings, my mother said, but he neither questioned folk too hard nor made them promise more than he thought they were likely to perform."
"And the word was really left out in the marriage service?" said Mr. Lufton, with an Englishman's incredulity as to any latitude taken in such things by an officiating clergyman. "I shall want more evidence of such a strange exception to the rule."
"It really was," said Allan; "both my father and mother assert the fact."
"Well, with or wit-ma the vow, Mrs. Lindsay
