"If it isn't in your hand, it is in your
pocket, or you have hidden it. Get it instantly," pretending to shake
him.
The boy bashfully drew the book from beneath the log, while Ruth
bantered him with sweet, bubbling laughter that made him think of
awakening birds and blossoming orchards. He turned the leaves in
embarrassed haste.
"I don't find anything about love," he stammered. "But here is something
about marriage."
"As if they weren't one and the same!" cried Ruth. "Read it. Let's hear
what it says. Read every word carefully and distinctly."
David then read aloud what the Knight of the Oracle said to the Most
Fair Constantia:--
"They are truly married that have with united hearts plighted promise of
perpetual friendship, electing one another by true love and not by
outward ceremony; for where true love is not there can be no perfect
marriage, though the outward ceremony be never so well performed."
"As if everybody didn't know that already!" scouted Ruth. "Any gosling
of a girl knows that without having to be told. There isn't a single
word there to tell what true love is, and what its signs are.
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