It just happened. I kept intending to
write to the other girl and tell her plainly that
everything was off. But I kept postponing it.
It seemed like a deuce of a hard job to tackle.
"But, finally, I did write her. That was the very
day Lucy promised to throw Prent McMakin over
and marry me. You know how determined all
your people were that Lucy should marry McMakin,
Tom. They had brought her up with the idea
that she was going to, and, of course, she was bored
with him for that reason.
"We decided the best plan would be to slip away
quietly and get married. We knew it would raise
a row. But there was bound to be a row anyhow
when they found she intended to marry me instead
of McMakin. So we figured we might just as well
be away from there.
"We left your place early on the morning of
October 31, 1888--do you remember the date,
Tom? We took the train for Clarksville, Tennessee,
and got there about two o'clock that afternoon.
I suppose you have been in that interesting centre
of the tobacco industry. If you have you may
remember that the courthouse of Montgomery
County is right across the street from the best hotel.
I got a license and a preacher without any trouble,
and we were married in the hotel parlour that
afternoon. One of the hotel clerks and the county
clerk himself were the witnesses.
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