“You need not look so solemn over it; I do not think you will have to try very hard.”
Scott, who had taken a seat by the window, and had been a silent listener to the conversation, now addressed his mother, while a slight cloud passed over his brow.
“I am sorry,” he said, “that she is coming just now, 7 for I am afraid I shall find very little time to devote to ladies’ society, and of course she will expect it; and another reason is that she seems such a stranger to me, that I shall be obliged to stand on the most rigid formality and be her escort whether I wish it or not, but perhaps she will think me too much a boy to waste her time with.”
Irene Mapleton was two years older than Scott Wilmer, and through his mother’s influence he had paid her marked attention while she was on a visit to a friend in the beautiful city of Detroit, her home being in San Francisco. Her father, who had invested largely in mining stocks and become wealthy, spared no pains to give Irene means to gratify every wish. June had spoken truly when she said that Irene’s dresses were lovely. There never was a bow or a flower misplaced, or colors that did not blend with perfect harmony. With the ample means she possessed, it became a noticeable fact that no lady dressed with greater taste than Miss Mapleton. She had paid the Wilmers a visit the summer previous to the opening of this story, and it was then that Mrs. Wilmer had used every means to make a favorable impression on the mind of Irene, and to influence Scott to do the same. Scott, however, was not the person to practice any deception, and when his mother spoke to him in regard to being more attentive, he only smiled and said:
“Why, mother, I shall not pretend any affection I do not feel, and I really cannot help whether Miss Mapleton likes me or not. I will devote all my spare time to making her visit pleasant, and that is the best I can do.”
Mrs. Wilmer replied that Scott was a strange boy, at any rate, but, she added:
“I suppose there is no use to urge you in the matter.”
“How soon will she be here, did you say?” asked June.
“In a few days, the dispatch says, and,” said Mrs. Wilmer, turning to Scott, “I suppose her father is quite anxious to have your marriage take place as soon as convenient.”