I saw the two Donnans look one at the other. I don't think either had yet considered the matter in this light. To adopt Elizabeth meant to adopt any possible husband Elizabeth might take to herself. I could tell from Butcher Donnan's twinkle that he was envisaging the possibility of having Hugh John as a son-in-law—by adoption. Hugh John was still an unknown quantity to the good pastry-cook. He would never understand the delicate detachment of the friendship of Elizabeth Fortinbras and my brother.
"We hope," said Butcher Donnan cunningly, "that you will let us keep Elizabeth for a long time, Mr. Hugh John?"
The boy took the words perfectly seriously and with no personal bearing.
"Elizabeth," he answered, "is a very pretty girl, but I shall do my best. At any rate she is sure to consult me before doing anything rash—like getting married, I mean!"
There was something about Hugh John which kept any one from laughing at him, and accordingly Butcher Donnan refrained.
"You are a confident young man," he said; "at your age I might have had an eye a little wider open for my own good fortune."
"Elizabeth trusts me, and I am her friend!" said Hugh John, as if that settled the whole matter.
"Well, may I be ... blessed!" cried Butcher Donnan. "Off with you, and let us hear what Elizabeth says."
"No," said Hugh John, "it must happen, not be dragged in by the collar. To-night, after shop-shutting, Elizabeth will go home to see that all is right with her people. I shall walk with her, and tell you what she says in the morning."
"We would rather hear to-night," cried Butcher Donnan, hotly impatient after the manner of his kind.