As soon as Philip, refusing wine, had sallied forth to smoke in the garden, Colonel Lane began to open his heart—part of it, at least; there was another part where a very tender secret lay hidden—to his friend.
“You have heard, of course, Burns, that Arbuthnot has been ordered to India? It is a mighty relief to me, for my little girl was clamoring to become engaged to him. That is saved, at any rate.”
“But, surely, Colonel, you can’t object to Arbuthnot!” exclaimed Uncle Robert; “a gentleman and a fine soldier.”
“That is just it,” rejoined the Colonel. “Arbuthnot is all that, and I have a deep regard for him. But Phyllis has had many fancies before, and will have many to come. She is a darling girl, but I fear she is very changeable. She thinks herself greatly in love with Arbuthnot to-day. To-morrow, more likely than not, she will think herself equally in love with someone else. She is not exactly a coquette, but she imagines herself to feel deeply, when she gets a surface impression. I want her to become more stable before she unites herself to a man with the chance of spoiling both their lives. It is very hard, Burns, to have to be both father and mother to a wilful girl! However, this particular situation is saved for the moment. Arbuthnot will be away for some time, and Phyllis may, in the meantime, grow older, and get to know her own mind, I hope.”
Glancing through the window at this point, the Colonel caught sight of a white figure crossing the lawn, and smiled a little grimly.
“Women are strange creatures, Burns,” he said; “I can’t understand them! A battalion of men is more easily managed than one woman!”
“Opinions differ, however,” said Uncle Robert. “Chaucer says, ‘Ther can no man in humblesse him acquite as woman can, ne can be half so trewe as woman ben,’ while Robert Burns calls her ‘dear, deluding woman.’”
“You, of course, take Burns’s view,” said the Colonel laughing.
Robert Burns the second did not see the joke. He answered quite seriously.
“No, I don’t take Burns’s view,” he said seriously. “I have a sister who is above rubies—a woman who is a sweetener of life.”