"I have ceased to look for any," I said, with an evenness of voice that surprised me.
"I am glad to find myself in such good company," Mr. Winthrop said, with a graceful bend of the head, which included each of his guests in the list of single blessed ones.
"Are you all going to be old bachelors?" I asked, forgetting myself in the surprise of the moment.
"I am not aware that we are all irrevocably committed to that terrible fate," Mr. Bovyer said, as he united in the general smile at my expense.
"It might be more terrible for some of your wives than if you remained single. I think some persons are fore-ordained to live single." I looked steadily in the fire lest my eyes might betray too much.
"Do you imagine those blighted lives are confined solely to one sex?" Mr. Winthrop blandly inquired.
"Oh, no; nature does not confine her oddities to one sex; but a woman can better conceal the lack of a human heart and sympathies."
"You mean they are better actresses?"
"Yes, I think so."
"I must tell you, gentlemen, this little ward of mine is a natural philanthropist. You would be amazed to see how she sympathizes with widows and the broken-hearted of both sexes. I have been forced to limit her charities to a certain yearly amount lest her husband may one day call me to account for her wasted means."