“I will, Philip, there is my hand on it.”
The Doctor clasped it warmly. “What do you think of Landor?” he said.
“Kenneth Landor? Does he know them?”
“He met Hester here one day and was immensely taken with her. Afterward he ran across them in my house in the apartment below them. There is an invalid boy there whom Kenneth heard of—you know he is always finding out-of-the-way people and going to see them. He told me he only saw the girls there a moment, but he’s taken a violent fancy to the boy, who talks about Julie and Hester by the hour together. Landor wants to meet the girls again—he has asked me to ask him here to meet them, but I have always put him off on one pretext or another, knowing it was useless to try to do anything while you felt as you did, but now you will arrange something, won’t you, Mary? You have such a talent for little parties.”
“The girls won’t come. Have you heard them speak of Kenneth?”
“Only casually, most casually. Hester always gets the talk off on something else when I mention him.”
“That’s a good sign.”
“A good sign!” said the Doctor, much puzzled, “I thought it was a bad one.”
“Oh! you men,” laughed Miss Ware, “you don’t know anything. When a girl does not discuss a man it is usually because he interests her. Do you think,” she said seriously, “the girls, if they knew, would like your disposing of one of them in this calm fashion?”
“Mary, I beg of you, do not misunderstand me. I have no wish to dispose of them. Kenneth may not fall in love with either of them, though I don’t see how he can help it” (this under his breath), “and neither of them may care in the least for him, but it would gladden my heart if the thing could be. He is an admirable fellow in every way, and during the past month he has gone into business with his father. Did you know that? There is no doubt that he could make a comfortable home for them all. Even if nothing comes of it I want him to know them—he’ll be a better man all his life for knowing them—and I want them to have a little diversion, a little outside interest to take them out of the rut. I’ll leave it all to you, Mary,” he ended, with a comfortable feeling of security.