Percy (brightening up). I am sure you can, Helen—I mean Miss Rodney. I surely am in a bad fix. But sit down here and I’ll tell you all about it.
(They sit upon bench near C.)
Hel. Go on and tell me. I am sure your troubles cannot be very great.
Percy. Wait until you have heard. Helen—excuse me for calling you Helen——
Hel. Certainly. To be even with you, I shall call you Percy.
Percy. I like that. But let me tell my story. Perhaps after you have heard it you won’t want to ever see me again.
Hel. Is it so serious as all that?
Percy. It surely is. Helen, a month or so ago I was foolish enough to answer an advertisement in a matrimonial paper. I did it just for the fun of the thing, you know.
Hel. I did the same thing once. A bachelor, whose chief drawing points were that he was bald-headed and had a fortune, advertised that he wished to correspond with a charming country girl who was matrimonially inclined, and I wrote to him.
Percy. Ah! is that so?