15The attenuated man regarded the two gentlemen with interest. “That chap has a familiar face.”
“Which? The one with the bouquet?”
“No; the one with the nose.”
“That’s Hamilton Goddard.”
“To be sure! And I should know his friend was a lover. His anxious glances up the wharf, and those flowers give him away. Such roses are for no aunt or sister.”
“Better for him if they were!”
“Why? No chance?”
“Well, that is not for me to say. But he is one of those fearfully earnest chaps, with a tragic soul, and a rebuff would be a dangerous thing for him.”
“Poor devil!”
And the man of cheerful countenance slowly wagged his head, as he added, in a sympathetic voice, “This being in love seems a painful pleasure.”