Then and there, he told the story that the two easy chairs in the library knew about. He even apologized earnestly for seeking the daughter first. It had not been his intention; he had meant to call on the family; but they were absent, and he found Miss Flossy alone. And—well, if Mr. Shipley had been particular, as assuredly he would have been, if Mr. Roberts had not been of the firm of Bostwick, Smythe, Roberts & Co. it might have been embarrassing to have explained the very precipitate result of his call.
But, as it was, Mr. Shipley was so amazed and so bewildered, and so overwhelmed, with delighted pride, that he would almost have forgiven the announcement that Mr. Roberts was already his son-in-law, without leave or license from him. As it was, all the caution had to be on Mr. Robert's side. He asked that letters might be sent to his brother-in-law, Mr. Smythe, to his father, Mr. James Roberts, proving, not his financial standing, the unmistakable knowledge of the private affairs of the firm that had established him there, but of his moral character, and his standing in the Christian world.
Do you believe that Mr. Shipley felt the necessity? Not he! Had he not been willing more than that, anxious that his daughter's fortune should be linked with Col. Baker's? Did he not know what was Col. Baker's standing in the moral and Christian world? After all, is it any wonder, when there are such fathers that many daughters make shipwreck of their lives? As for Mr. Roberts, he was almost indignant:
"The man would actually sell her, if by that means he could be recognized in business by our house."
If it had been any other young man than himself, who was in question, how his indignation would have blazed at such proceedings! But since it was himself, he decided to accept the situation.
As for Flossy, she did not look at the matter in that light; when she found that all the perplexities and clouds had been so suddenly and so strangely smoothed and cleared from before her way, she thought of those hours of wakeful anxiety that she had wasted the night before; and of how, finally, she had made her heart settle back on the watchful care and love of the Father who was so wise and so powerful, and in the quiet of her own room, she smiled, as she said aloud:
"'Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.' How much pleasanter it would have been to have committed it in the first place, before I wearied my heart with worrying over what I could not lift my finger to make different!"
So in less time than it has taken me to tell it, the rough places smoothed suddenly before Flossy Shipley's feet. She was free now, to go to parties, or to prayer-meetings, or to stay at home according to her own fancy, for was she not the promised wife of a partner of the firm of Bostwick, Smythe, Roberts & Co.?
It transpired that Mr. Roberts had come to make a somewhat extended stay in the city, to look after certain business affairs connected with the firm, and also to look after certain business interests of the great Master, whose work he labored at with untiring persistence, always placing it above all other plans, and working at it with a zeal that showed his heart was there.
Flossy, during these days, took great strides as a learner in Christian work. Among other things, she was let into the mysteries of some of the great and systematic charities of the city, and found what wonderful things God's wealth could do, placed in the hands of careful and conscientious stewards. She had thought at first that it made no difference at all to her, whether Mr. Roberts had to work for his daily bread, or whether he had means at his disposal; but very early in her acquaintance with him she learned to thank God, that great wealth had been placed in his hands, and so, was to be at her disposal, and that she was learning how to use it.