"I don't think I like him very much, either," Marie admitted reluctantly. "And anyway I'm glad you didn't go——" She smiled into his beaming face. "Perhaps we could go to some theatres together."
"Could we? By jove, that would be ripping! I say, it's an awful piece of luck running across you like this, you know."
Miss Chester liked young Atkins. She thought him a very charming boy, she told Marie when, at last, he took a reluctant departure, arranging to call again next day.
"He is a friend of Chris', you say?"
"Yes—we met him when we were away."
"A very nice boy—a thorough gentleman," Miss Chester said complacently. "I hope he will call often."
Marie laughed.
"I am sure he will with the least encouragement." she said.
He had done her good, and she quite looked forward to seeing him again. She wrote to Chris that night and told him of their meeting.
"It was quite by chance, but I was very pleased to see him, and we are going to a theater together to-morrow."