The Seed of Empire by Fred M. White

Exactly how the whole thing came about it would have been difficult for any of the three friends to say. It seemed to be the most natural thing in the world, and there was not a nurse in the house who did not regard it as the proper thing. Indeed, the little girl with the golden hair frankly declared that she had gone out of her way to propose to Ian Gordon, a suggestion that he repudiated with great indignation. But the fact remained that he and Nellie Somers were engaged, and that they had made up their minds to be married before the all too brief holiday was over. It would take a day or two to procure the special licences, and this would just permit a few hours' honeymoon, which they had decided to spend on a short motor trip to Brighton. There was only one of the trio who had any doubts about the wisdom of the step, and that was Harold Bentley. The other two were rich, and could please themselves. He, on the other hand, had no money, and from the worldly point of view was doing exceedingly well. But he was very much in love, the glamour of the situation was upon him, and there was nothing for it but to fall in line with the rest.

There had been a good many romantic marriages since the beginning of the war, but these three looked like being something out of the common. To begin with, there would be three of them under one roof, and the fact that all the brides were actively engaged in nursing the wounded, and were working a hospital of their own, added to the glamour of it. The local papers got to hear about it, and the story was told far and wide. Some of the wounded were sufficiently recovered to attend the ceremony, and this added picturesqueness to a ceremony which otherwise was practically private. It was over and done with at length, and, the newly-married couples went their way in pursuit of a honeymoon which would have been regarded as something a little short of madness a few months ago. But the war had changed all that; the war had changed a good many things and swept away many traditions that would never be worshiped again.