He interpreted her permission as applying to more than one visit; somehow or other, most days found him by the bay window, and generally, on being pressed, at leisure to come in and rest. They would chat over all manner of things together, each imparting to the other from a store of experiences strange to the listener; or together they would discuss their common friends in Meriton. She liked his shrewd and humorous wisdom; her directness and simplicity charmed him no less than the extreme prettiness of her face.
"Well, Miss Flower," he said one morning, "the boys finish their speechifying to-morrow, and then they'll be more at liberty to amuse you, instead of leaving it so much to the old stagers."
"And then you'll all be getting busy about the wedding. In three weeks now, isn't it?"
"Just a few days over three weeks. Individually I shall be glad when it's over."
"Have they done well with their speeches?" she asked. "After all my good intentions, I only went once."
"They think they've made the seat absolutely safe for Harry. Parliament and marriage—the boy's taking on responsibilities!"
"It seems funny, when one's just played about with them! It's a funny thing to be just one of people's amusements—off the stage as well as on it."
"Oh, come!" He smiled. "Is that all you claim to be—to any of those boys?"
"That's the way they look at me—in their sober moments. Except Andy; he's quite different. He's never been about town, you see. For him girls and women are all in the same class."
"I was once about town myself," Belfield remarked thoughtfully.