Meanwhile, behind a newspaper in the smoking-room, Major Tallboys was holding a serious mental debate. Of late, as he made his leisured and fastidious toilet, and preened himself before a glass, he noticed with grief and pain the deeper furrows in his forehead, and the whitening of his brown hair. Yes, he was getting on, and if he ever meant to marry, there was no time to be lost! His mind's eye cast a nervous glance towards the army of elderly and old men who rented rooms near the Club—their only home; men, without family ties or affection, their whole interest bounded by the daily press; desolate poor fellows, who were tended in sickness by a landlady, or a professional nurse, and passed out of life, unsped, and unwept.
Fanny Bond was amiable and sympathetic; amazingly well read too!—a free library had been her only solace and joy. Children and dogs adored her; her appreciation of himself was unquestionable! She had a slim, graceful figure, a certain amount of good looks—masses of dark hair, a pair of confiding brown eyes, slightly prominent, but otherwise perfect teeth. Her relatives however were a serious drawback;—in fact, Mrs. Bond's impudent interference had gone near to shattering her cousin's prospects—but down in his little battered heart there was a warm corner for Fanny; and a nice-looking, unselfish woman, with five hundred a year, was by no means to be despised.
Night brings wisdom, and the morning after his interview with Mrs. Joe, arrayed in a creaseless suit and wearing his most becoming tie, Major Tallboys invited Miss Bond "to come for a turn in the garden?" By degrees, he conducted the conversation to her favourite subject, travel.
"I believe we are going to Switzerland this winter," she announced, "and I cannot tell you how much I look forward to my first trip abroad."
The pair were now pacing a retired walk, overshadowed by a rustic pergola veiled in masses of pink roses,—one of the glories of the hotel garden. Major Tallboys, casting a searching glance over his surroundings, came to an abrupt halt. Although a ladies' man, and the hero of countless flirtations, the good-looking, agreeable little soldier was about to make his first serious proposal!
This resolution had been hardening in his mind ever since he had swallowed his early morning cup of tea.
"How would you like to go to India?" he enquired of his companion.
Colouring vividly, she exclaimed, "Oh, I should like it better than anything in the world, but I shall never get the chance!"
She looked surprisingly handsome, with her glowing cheeks, and soft dark eyes; the plain, ill-made alpaca entirely failed to conceal her slender grace.
"Well, Miss Bond," clearing his throat and looking at her steadily, "I offer you the chance here and now. Fanny, I am greatly attached to you—will you be my wife?" and he tendered a thin, sun-dried hand.