For that Nan Everard cared in the smallest degree for the solemn,
thick-set son of a Boer mother, to whom she had given herself, no one
ever deemed possible for an instant. But he was rich, fabulously rich,
and that fact counterbalanced many drawbacks. Piet Cradock owned a large
share in a diamond mine in the South African Republic, and he was a
person of considerable importance in his native land in consequence. He
had visited England on business, but his time there had been limited to
a bare six weeks. This fact had necessitated a brief wooing and a speedy
marriage.
He had met the girl of his choice by a mere accident. He had chanced to
be seated on her right hand at a formal dinner-party in town. Very little
had passed between them then, but later, through the medium of his host,
he had sought her out, and called upon her. Within a week he had asked
her to be his wife. And Nan Everard, impulsive, dazzled by the prospect
of unbounded wealth, and feverishly eager to ease the family burden, had
accepted him.
He was obliged to sail for South Africa within three weeks of his
proposal, and preparations for the marriage had therefore to be hurried
forward with all speed. They were to leave for Plymouth immediately after
the ceremony, and to sail on the following day.
So at breathless speed events had raced, and no one knew exactly what
was the state of Nan's mind even up to the morning of her wedding-day.
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