"I do."
Jack was glancing rather fiercely down the slope of the black-and-white garden, that sloped its lawns to the river. Mary sat very still beside him, in a cream lace dress.
"It's a Mr. Boyd Blessington. He is a widower with five children, but he is an interesting man. He's got a black beard."
"Goodness!" said Jack. "Have you accepted him?"
"No. Not yet."
"Why do you think of marrying him? Do you like him?"
"For some things. He is a good man, and he wants me in a good way. He has a beautiful library. And as he is a man of the world, there seems to be a big world round him. Yes, he is quite somebody. And Aunt Matilda says it is a wonderful opportunity for me. And I know it is."
Jack mused in silence.
"It may be," he said. "But I hardly fancy you kissing a widower of fifty, with a black beard and five children. Lord!"
"He's only thirty-seven. And he's a man."