human
Oh, well, two years is a lot better than three.
gpt
Well, I'll be hanged, he said, softly. It was at that moment that he forgave Mrs. Maitland her outrageous joke of more than a year before.
human
I've always known that woman was no fool, he said, smiling ruefully at the remembrance of his anger at Sarah Maitland's advice.
gpt
It was darned good advice! he said; but he looked positively dazed.
human
And I've always said I wouldn't give Life the chance to play another trick on me! he reflected;
gpt
Ten minutes later, as he started for his office, he caught sight of his face in the mirror in the hall. He had lifted one hand to take his hat from the rack, but as he suddenly saw himself, he stood stock-still, with upraised arm and extended fingers; Robert Ferguson had probably not been really aware of his reflection in a looking-glass for twenty-five years. He saw now a lean, lined, sad face, a morose droop of thin and bitter lips; he saw gray hair standing up stiffly above a careworn forehead; he saw kind, troubled eyes. And as he looked, he frowned.
human
I'm an ugly cuss, he said to himself, sighing;
gpt
In point of fact, he was nearly fifty.
human
But so is she, he added, defiantly, and took down his hat.
gpt
Only, _she_ looks forty. And then he thought of Mrs. Maitland's
human
and smiled, in spite of himself.
gpt
Yes, she is rather good-looking,
human
I never dreamed of her going away, he said to himself. Well, yes; certainly Mrs. Maitland had some sense, after all. When, a week later, blundering and abrupt, he referred to Mrs. Maitland's
gpt
Mrs. Richie could not at first understand what he was talking about.
human
She 'knew more than you gave her credit for'? I thought you gave her credit for knowing everything! Oh, you don't want me to leave Mercer? I don't see the connection. _I_ don't know everything! But you are very flattering, I'm sure. I am a 'good tenant,' I suppose?
gpt
Please don't go. She laughed at what she thought was his idea of a joke; then said, with half a sigh, that she did not know any one in Philadelphia;
human
Please don't go, he said again, in a low voice. They were sitting before the fire in Mrs. Richie's parlor; the glass doors of the plant-room were open,--that plant-room, which had been his first concession to her; and the warm air of the parlor was fragrant with blossoming hyacinths. There was a little table between them, with a bowl of violets on it, and a big lamp. Robert Ferguson rose, and stood with his hands behind him, looking down at her. His hair, in a stiff brush above his forehead, was quite gray, but his face in its unwonted emotion seemed quivering with youth. He knocked off his glasses irritably.
gpt
I never know how to say things, he said, in a low voice;
human
I think we'd better get married,
gpt
I think I've cared about you ever since you came here, but I am such a fool I didn't know it until Mrs. Maitland said that absurd thing last fall.
human
I--I don't know what you mean! she parried, breathlessly;
gpt
I have to say something more. He sat down again with the air of one preparing for a siege.
human
I've got several things to say. First, I want to find out my chances?
gpt
You haven't any.
human
Mrs. Richie, is there any one else? If so, I'll quit. I know you will answer straight; you are not like other women. _Is there anybody else?_ That--that Old Chester doctor who comes to see you once in a while, I understand he's a widower now; wife's just died; and if--
gpt
There is nobody; _never_ anybody.
human
Ah! he said, triumphantly; then frowned:
gpt
If your attachment to your husband makes you say I haven't any chance--but it can't be that.
human
Why not? Why do you say it can't be that?
gpt
I somehow got the impression--forgive me if I am saying anything I oughtn't to; but I had kind of an idea that you were not especially happy with him.
human
But even if you were, he went on,
gpt
he looked at her incredulously;
human
Such a thing is possible, she told him coldly; she had grown very pale.
gpt
But it is not because of--of my husband that I say I shall never marry again.
human
If it isn't a dead man nor a live man that's ahead of me, then it seems to me you can't say I haven't any chance--unless I am personally offensive to you? There was an almost child-like consternation in his eyes;
gpt
Oh, please don't say things like that! she protested.
human
A bear? You? Why, you are just my good, kind friend and neighbor; but--
gpt
Ah! he said,
human
Mr. Ferguson, she said, gently,
gpt
I do appreciate the honor you do me, but--
human
Don't say a thing like that; it's foolish, he interrupted, frowning;
gpt
There is no use, Mr. Ferguson,
human
There isn't anybody ahead of me: so far, so good. Now as to my chances; of course I realize that I haven't any,--to-day. But there's to-morrow, Mrs. Richie; and the day after to-morrow. There's next week, and next year;--and I don't change. Look how slow I was in finding out that I wanted you; it's taken me all these years! What a poor, dull fool I am! Well, I know it now; and you know it; and you don't personally dislike me. So perhaps some day, his harsh face was suddenly almost beautiful;
gpt
he said, under his breath. He had no idea that he was
human
No, she said, quietly;
gpt
I can't marry you, Mr. Ferguson.
human
But you are generally so reasonable, he protested, astonished and wistful;
gpt
--he was gaining confidence from his own words--
human
Mrs. Maitland's 'sensible arrangement'? No, Mr. Ferguson; please let us forget all about this--
gpt
Forget? Now _that_ isn't sensible. No, you dear, foolish woman; whatever else we do, we shall neither of us forget this. This is one of the things a man and woman don't forget; in his earnestness he pushed aside the bowl of violets on the table between them, and caught her hand in both of his.
human
I'm going to get you yet,
gpt
Oh--David! I thought you were next door!
human
I was, David said, briefly;
gpt
I came in to get a book for Elizabeth.
human
We were--talking, Mrs. Richie said, trying to laugh. Mr. Ferguson, standing with his back to the fire, was slowly putting on his glasses.
gpt
But we had finished our discussion,
human
For the moment,
gpt
Well, David, have you and Elizabeth decided when she is to come and see us in Philadelphia?
human
She says she'll come East whenever Mr. Ferguson can bring her, David said, rummaging among the books on the table.
gpt
But it's a pity to wait as long as that,
human
I think I can manage to come pretty soon,
gpt
Materna--
human
Yes? What is it?
gpt
Nothing,
human
Of course she doesn't care a hang for him, he reflected;
gpt
I could see that; but I swear I'll go to Philadelphia right off. Before he slept he had made up his mind that was the best thing to do. That old man, gray and granite-faced, and silent,
human
said the disrespectful cub of twenty-six,
gpt
said David.
human
The idea of his daring to make love to her! I wanted to show him the door. As for his mother, even if she didn't
gpt
he was half shocked, half hurt; he felt, as all young creatures do, a curious repulsion at the idea of love-making between people no longer young. It hurt his delicacy, it almost hurt his sense of reverence for his mother, to think that she had been obliged to listen to any words of love.
human
It's offensive, he said angrily;
gpt
Could you pack up in three weeks, Materna? he said;
human
I think I'd like to get you settled before I go to the hospital. Mrs. Richie's instant acceptance of the change of date made him more annoyed than ever.
gpt
He has worried her! he thought angrily;
human
I wonder how long this thing has been going on? But he said nothing to her. Nor did he mean to explain to Elizabeth just why he must shorten their last few weeks of being together. It would not be fair to his mother to explain, he said to himself;--he did not think of any unfairness to the
gpt
He was, however, a little uneasy at the prospect of breaking the fact of this earlier departure to Elizabeth without an explanation. Elizabeth might be hurt; she might say that he didn't want to stay with her.
human
She knows better! he said to himself, grinning. The honest truth was, and he faced it with placidity, that if things were not explained to Elizabeth, she might get huffy,--this was David's word; but David knew how to check that