“Do you find Aunt Emma wearing, doctor?” Mabel inquired flippantly. “Some do.”
“Oh, no, no! What a sad idea. I shall go out now and have a pipe in the moonlight, and all the little cares will blow away with the smoke.”
“Don’t let Mrs. Witherby’s wild man get you,” Howard urged, laughing.
“Te-he-he! the good lady is so excitable; but she means well. I leave you to the pleasant task of dispelling pessimistic ideas from Miss Crewe’s lovely head.” He went out on tiptoe, with extravagant antics of mock caution.
CHAPTER XVI
“He’s a nice old chap,” Howard remarked. She did not answer. He desired, at all hazards, to avoid an intimate talk so stepped quickly toward the supper room as if to open the door. “Let me conduct you to the crackers and cheese,” he said with forced lightness.
“No. I want to speak to you.”
“This is hardly a good opportunity,” he pleaded.