"And why not?"
"The object of her visits is gone," Gretchen answered sadly.
"My luck!" exclaimed Carmichael ruefully.
"I am always building houses of cards. I don't suppose I shall ever reform."
"Are you not afraid to walk about in this part of the town so late?" put in the vintner, who was impatient to be gone.
"Afraid? Of what? Thieves? Bah, my little man, I carry a sword-stick, and moreover I know how to use it tolerably well. Good night." And he swung along easily, whistling an air from The Barber of Seville.
The insolence in Carmichael's tone set the vintner's ears a-burning, but he swallowed his wrath.
"I like him," Gretchen declared, as she stopped before the house.
"Why?" jealously.
"Because he is always like that; pleasant, never ruffled, kindly. He will make a good husband to some woman."