“I wish I could manage things that way, but I can’t. Cecil is horribly clever, and I don’t take things calmly.”
“It is all a matter of temperament, of course. Try and not expect too much, and it will be easier. An Englishman simply won’t keep on telling you that he loves you—”
“Mine will, or there’ll be trouble.”
“They’re so lazy about talking. I’m afraid he won’t. It’s pure laziness that has made them clip so many names, and throw all their accents backward, fairly swallowing the last syllables. When they’ve told you once they love you, they don’t see why you can’t take it for granted ever after, and when one gets over that I’m positive they are the most agreeable husbands in the world. They give so little trouble, and take such good care of one, and do all the thinking. Arthur is the most comfortable person. He is generous, and has no temper at all if he is not crossed, and is more than willing to think me quite perfect because I always look pretty, and never contradict him, and entertain all his stupid shooting friends without a grimace.”
“What do you get out of it all?”
“Those things can’t be analysed; he suits me. I am really very fond of him. I love people who are good-tempered and not nervous, and can be awfully fond of one without making a fuss about it. I love him well enough to bore myself in a good many ways, but I have this compensation—I can make him do anything I choose. We spend every winter where I want to spend it, and he’s none the wiser. I entertain his friends in the summer and autumn, but I have my own in town, and we always go to at least three houses that I like.”
“It is evident that Cecil and I will have to work out our own problem.”
He returned in two weeks and two days with his grizzly’s skin—a huge, hideous, and ill-favoured trophy. Lee lifted her delicate nose, and drew away her skirts, but assured him warmly that she was quite as delighted as he was, and so proud of him she feared every one would laugh at her.
“Trennahan got the other, but mine was the biggest,” he said intensely. “It’s a long and exciting story. The old chap nearly got me. Let me go and clean up, and then we’ll go for a walk, and I’ll tell you all about it. And that’s the least of what I have to tell you.”
They went for their walk, and there was no doubt left in Lee’s mind that he had been in a hurry to get back to her, although he had waited until his grizzly’s skin was peppered and dried. Her doubts went to rest, and she was happy.