“Well, as you have already said regarding yourself, I have not yet decided upon anything,” he observed.
“But surely you have a decided penchant for some particular business or profession!” she remarked, while she regarded him earnestly and with some surprise.
“No, I cannot say that I have,” he answered, with a doubtful shake of his head, yet feeling strangely embarrassed and uncomfortable under the searching look in her dark-blue eyes. “But there is time enough yet for that,” he added, to change the topic, and making an effort to throw off the sensation. “Now, suppose you tell me something about your impressions of European life and travel.”
But dinner was announced just at that moment, and their conversation was interrupted.
Mrs. Temple had arranged to have Philip escort Mollie to the dining-room, and he exerted himself to be attentive and agreeable to her.
But one of the professors at Harvard, to whom Mollie had been introduced, was seated on her left, and, having previously discovered that she was an unusually intelligent girl, adroitly drew her into conversation, which finally drifted into an animated discussion upon the geological formation of different countries.
Several times Mollie appealed to Phil, hoping thus to draw him into the debate, for she did not wish to appear to neglect him, neither could she ignore the professor without being rude. But Phil did not appear to advantage in the opinions he offered or the remarks he made, and was entirely distanced in the race. He was greatly relieved when dinner was over and he succeeded in whisking Mollie away to the drawing-room, where he proceeded to monopolize her, for a while, at least.
The remainder of the evening was passed most enjoyably, there being several musical people present, and who contributed a delightful program; while Mollie, who was noted for her powers of elocution, gave two or three spirited selections, which were rendered with such artistic effect that she won much applause.
Philip had observed, while he was exchanging greetings with Mr. Heatherford, that the man appeared greatly worn and aged; but he had attributed this depression and change to the loss of his wife. He also noticed, from time to time during the evening, that he avoided the company and seemed to want to get away into a corner by himself, where he would fall into a fit of abstraction from which he was only aroused when Mollie went to him and after chatting with him a few minutes would draw him out among people again.