"Ah, Aunt Elsie, that sounds as though you considered it something to one's credit to have left a life of single blessedness for one in the married state," laughed Lucilla.
"A state which I have found so pleasant that I think no one deserves any credit for entering it," was Mrs. Leland's smiling rejoinder.
"And I have noticed," said Max, "that as a rule those who have tried it once are very ready to try it again—widows and widowers seem in more haste to marry than bachelors and maids."
"'Marry in haste and repent at leisure,'" quoted Grace, laughingly. "Father takes care that his children don't do the first, perhaps to secure them from the second."
"And we all have great confidence in our father's wisdom; as well as his strong affection for us, his children," remarked Max.
A sentiment which the others—his wife and sisters—promptly and cordially endorsed.