brief fits of waywardness and put others in good humor with him
and themselves.
“Now we are even let’s drop the subject and start afresh,” he said
with irresistible affability as he coolly put the little heart in his
pocket and prepared to shut the drawer. But something caught his
eye, and exclaiming, “What’s this? What’s this?” he snatched up a
photograph which lay half under a pile of letters with foreign
postmarks.
“Oh! I forgot that was there,” said Rose hastily.
“Who is the man?” demanded Charlie, eyeing the good-looking
countenance before him with a frown.
“That is the Honorable Gilbert Murray, who went up the Nile with
us and shot crocodiles and other small game, being a mighty
hunter, as I told you in my letters,” answered Rose gaily, though ill
pleased at the little discovery just then, for this had been one of the
narrow escapes her uncle spoke of.
“And they haven’t eaten him yet, I infer from the pile of letters?”
said Charlie jealously.
“I hope not. His sister did not mention it when she wrote last.?
“Ah! Then she is your correspondent? Sisters are dangerous things
sometimes.” And Charlie eyed the packet suspiciously.
“In this case, a very convenient thing, for she tells me all about her
brother’s wedding, as no one else would take the trouble to do.?
“Oh! Well, if he’s married, I don’t care a straw about him. I fancied
I’d found out why you are such a hard-hearted charmer. But if there
is no secret idol, I’m all at sea again.” And Charlie tossed the
photograph into the drawer as if it no longer interested him.
“I’m hard-hearted because I’m particular and, as yet, do not find
anyone at all to my taste.?
“No one?” with a tender glance.
“No one” with a rebellious blush, and the truthful addition “I see
much to admire and like in many persons, but none quite strong
and good enough to suit me. My heroes are old-fashioned, you
know.?
“Prigs, like Guy Carleton, Count Altenberg, and John Halifax I
know the pattern you goody girls like,” sneered Charlie, who
preferred the Guy Livingston, Beauclerc, and Rochester style.
“Then I’m not a ‘goody girl,’ for I don’t like prigs. I want a
gentleman in the best sense of the word, and I can wait, for I’ve
seen one, and know there are more in the world.?
“The deuce you have! Do I know him?” asked Charlie, much
alarmed.
“You think you do,” answered Rose with a mischievous sparkle in
her eye.
“If it isn’t Pem, I give it up. He’s the best-bred fellow I know.?
“Oh, dear, no! Far superior to Mr. Pemberton and many years
older,” said Rose, with so much respect that Charlie looked
perplexed as well as anxious.
“Some apostolic minister, I fancy. You pious creatures always like
to adore a parson. But all we know are married.?
“He isn’t.?
“Give a name, for pity’s sake I’m suffering tortures of suspense,”
begged Charlie.
“Alexander Campbell.?
“Uncle? Well, upon my word, that’s a relief, but mighty absurd all
the same. So, when you find a young saint of that sort, you intend
to marry him, do you?” demanded Charlie much amused and rather
disappointed.
“When I find any man half as honest, good, and noble as Uncle, I
shall be proud to marry him if he asks me,” answered Rose
decidedly.
“What odd tastes women have!” And Charlie leaned his chin on his
hand to muse pensively for a moment over the blindness of one
woman who could admire an excellent old uncle more than a
dashing young cousin.
Rose, meanwhile, tied up her parcels industriously, hoping she had
not been too severe, for it was very hard to lecture Charlie, though
he seemed to like it sometimes and came to confession voluntarily,
knowing that women love to forgive when the sinners are of his
sort.
“It will be mail time before you are done,” she said presently, for
silence was less pleasant than his rattle.
Charlie took the hint and dashed off several notes in his best
manner. Coming to the business letter, he glanced at it and asked,
with a puzzled expression: “What is all this? Cost of repairs, etc.,