"I think the aimless life suits me best. And it certainly is the slowest. Don't you think, Agatha, that as we have got to get old and presently to die, we may as well go in for making the time go slow? That is the reason why I have never done anything."
"I never do anything myself, except listen to what other people tell me. But I find the days slip away all too quickly."
"Agatha, I am in a difficulty. That is one of the reasons why I have come to see you to day."
"Poor Lawrence! You always are in a difficulty."
"This time it is not my fault; but it is serious. Agatha, I have got—a——"
I do not know why he hesitated, but his cousin caught him up with a little cry.
"Not a wife, Lawrence; not a wife without telling me!"
"No, Agatha," he flushed crimson, "not a wife. That would have been a great deal worse. What I have got is a ward."
"A ward?"
"Do you remember Dick Fleming, who was killed in the hunting-field about fifteen years ago?"