“Oh, yes. Oh-h, ye-es! I understand it perfectly. Oh, perfectly! Are you sure, my dear Mrs. Mearely, that you do not intend to make a little announcement ere we leave to-night?”
“An announcement?”
“Judge Giffen is to be here—ah, he is here! I didn’t see him come in. It is very sweet of you to say that you have dressed yourself so charmingly, to-night, to give pleasure to my eyes, but are you sure—are you sure” (she wagged a forefinger playfully) “that you didn’t put on that ineffable gown to charm a lover?”
In spite of herself, Rosamond’s eyes snapped and the red flamed in her cheeks.
“Not only sure, but certain and positive,” she said tartly.
Mrs. Witherby, much pleased to see the flush and discomposure, smiled, bridled, and said:
“Well, we shall see what we shall see! and I feel confident we shall know a great deal more about our dear Mrs. Mearely to-morrow. The sweet blush is most becoming.”
Knowing that she had the worst of the encounter and could not easily recover, Rosamond was glad to be obliged to give her attention to the Judge. She showed a proper solicitude regarding his misadventures on horseback and made gracious response to his compliments.
Presently Mr. Andrews and Dr. Frei arrived. The latter, violin-case in hand, loitered by Miss Crewe and Wilton Howard, who had seated themselves on the verandah to observe the young moon rise over the river, defiant of the wrath their tête-à-têtes always aroused in Mrs. Witherby’s breast. While it could be said of even the stocky doctor that he wore evening dress naturally, and looked as if the coat—which classifies all who wear it as either gentlemen or waiters—belonged to him, yet it must be admitted that Dr. Frei brought a greater distinction to the garment than did any other man in Roseborough.
Rosamond thought he carried his head like some mæstro receiving the homage of an enraptured public. As to features, he was less handsome than Howard, and he lacked the smooth and respectfully caressing manner which was the latter’s greatest charm to women; but there was “an elegance about him”—as all Roseborough echoed Mrs. Witherby in saying—that set him apart. Even Mrs. Witherby was baffled by his manner. It stopped her questions before they were completed, making her change their tenor and give them the semblance of innocent and uninquisitive remarks.