Charlotte contemplated him a moment longer, while he returned the look earnestly and gravely; then, apparently satisfied, she indicated by a gesture the front room.
And suddenly he fell to scratching his head with an air of comical embarrassment.
"If you will pardon me, Miss Fairchild," said he, "allow me to suggest the porch this pleasant morning. I want to enjoy those lovely flowers while I may. I declare, I never saw anything like them in my life. I noticed a variegated chrysanthemum—very large bloom—remarkable! Some time—that is, if the occasion ever presents itself—I should like to ask—to ask you—" He stopped, as if overcome by the smile which all at once illumined her features. He had struck a responsive chord; for Charlotte was undisguisedly, girlishly pleased at any honest admiration of her cherished possession. To the porch, by all means.
The Captain filled his prodigious chest with the sweet air. "It is like wine, Miss Fairchild," he said, quietly; "you can't imagine what this means to a city man like me. It's hard to think of evil at such a time."
"Oh—don't!" she protested, still smiling; "think of the flowers instead. I am glad you like them. Any one who loves flowers sincerely can think of evil only to hate it."
"Very true," he returned, looking gravely at her; "very true. But hating the evil does not affect it.... Ah! a mocking-bird!"
If this one touch of nature did not quite make the whole world kin, it at least brought the spirits of these two into so much closer harmony that it was comparatively easy to plunge into confidences.
"Hating evil does not affect it," Converse went on, after a bit. "When it encompasses and threatens our friends, we must even step forward and tackle it—that is, of course, if we wish to aid them."
"Ah, to be sure," she said, in her tranquil way, which nevertheless had become serious. "You said that a friend was in trouble. I suppose you mean to tell it, as you say, in your own way; that it has to do with this dreadful murder—or with my brother. Very well, I will hear you; go on."
Covertly, he studied the stately woman who sat so few paces from him. She was beautiful this morning; a tinge of color had crept into her cheeks since his coming; the expressive eyes, now half veiled by abundant curling lashes, glowed with a look of tenderness in their depths as they turned again and again toward the vista of roadway which led to the city. If she was expecting somebody, it behooved him to hasten.