He laughed again. He was exceedingly pleased, Anne saw, merely at seeing her. Miss Amabel was exactly as he remembered her.
"Yes," said he. "Want us to?"
She put up her long eyebrows and smiled as if in some amusement at herself.
"I've learned lately," she said, "that gentlemen are so devoted to it they feel lost without it."
"Light up, Choate," said Jeffrey. "My sisters won't mind. Will you?" He interrogated Anne. "They get along with me."
No, Anne didn't mind, and she rose and brought matches and little trays. Lydia often wondered how Anne knew the exact pattern of man's convenience. But though Choate accepted a cigar, he did not light it.
"Not now," he said, when Jeffrey offered him a light; he laid the cigar down, tapping it once or twice with his fine hand, and Anne thought he refrained in courtesy toward her and Lydia.
"This is very pleasant," said the colonel suddenly. "It's good to see you, Amabel. Now I feel myself at home."
But what, after the first settling was over, had they to say? The same thought was in all their minds. What was Jeffrey going to do? He knew that, and moved unhappily. Whatever he was going to do, he wouldn't talk about it. But Miss Amabel was approaching him with the clearest simplicity.
"Jeff, my dear," she said, "I can't wait to hear about your ideal republic."