"Fellow-citizens," he said, "I have a motion to make. Hear me." He waved
his right hand to command silence, then proceeded: "Mr. President, I
withdraw my name from this convention, and move that the nomination of
Colonel Mobley Sommerton be made unanimous by acclamation. I have no right
to this nomination, and nothing, save a matter greater than life or death
to me, could have induced me to steal it as I this day have done. Colonel
Sommerton knows why I did it. He gave his word of honor that he would cease
all objections to giving his daughter to me in marriage, and that
furthermore he would deed Sommerton Place to us as a wedding present, if I
beat him for the nomination. Mr. President and fellow-citizens, do you
blame me for memorizing his speech? That magnificent speech meant to me the
most beautiful wife in America, and the handsomest estate in this noble
county."
If Tom Bannister had been boisterously applauded before this, it was as
nothing beside the noise which followed when Colonel Mobley Sommerton was
declared the unanimous nominee of the convention. Meantime, Phyllis had
hurried to the carriage and been driven home: she dared not stay and let
the crowd gaze at her after that bold confession of Tom's.
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