Dorothe, free from the embarrassment which tortured him, waited a respectable length of time for him to clear away that annoying obstruction in his throat, and then to help him along, began:
"Why, Mr. Price, you have always been one of my best friends, and I assure you that any suggestion or information I can give you, will be freely given," and here the widow blushed to the border of her cap, and touched her mouth with the corner of her apron.
Price, fixing his eyes on the ceiling, gathered courage enough to begin again:
"I have come to remark, Mrs. Stevens, that--ahem--that--do you think the restoration of monarchy is permanent?"
"Oh, I hope so," replied the widow very earnestly and softly, with a glance at the cavalier.
"Under the restoration, do you--ahem--think it is a much greater expense to keep two people than to keep one?" He was getting at it at last.
"Oh, dear me, Mr. Price!" said Mrs. Stevens, coloring again, for she fancied she saw in the near future a proposal coming. "Oh, what a question!"
The cavalier, having gotten fairly started, now came boldly to the charge. He had asked a question and demanded an answer. She thought it did not make the expense very much greater if the people were economical and careful, and then the pleasure of being in the society of some one was certainly very great.
That was just what Mr. Price had all along been thinking, and then, with his great manly heart all bursting with human kindness, he said:
"You must be very lonely, Mrs. Stevens."