"I said—that you—that you were not exactly opposed to the idea."
It was only with difficulty that Paula could keep her face straight. Controlling herself, she said:
"Mrs. Parkes, you have said that a good, cheerful lie is sometimes very comforting, but—in this case it's not only cheerless and uncomfortable—it's also most embarrassing. As it happens, I'm very much opposed to the idea."
The mother looked at her blankly. That her Harry was not a suitor any girl would eagerly jump at had never entered her mind.
"You could learn to love him," she said testily.
Paula was getting rather weary of the subject. Impatiently she replied:
"But I don't want to learn to love him. Forgive me, Mrs. Parkes, if I ask you not to refer to the subject again."
"The poor boy is eating his heart out," said Mrs. Parkes, wiping away a solitary tear.
Just as she spoke the door opened and the object of the conversation put his head in.
"Say, mater," he grinned, "do you know Mr. Chase has been waiting downstairs half an hour?"