"If you are right, I shall ask that my case be placed next upon the calendar."
"Willingly!" Mrs. Thatcher laughed. "I'll find a wife within a month."
"Heaven forbid!" he cried. "Unless—" he added slyly;—"unless you become a widow in the mean time!"
X
For some reason best known to himself Huntington did not confide to Cosden the fact that Mrs. Thatcher had suggested the possibility of a match between Merry and Hamlen. She had referred to it as "poetic justice"; perhaps Huntington, knowing his friend to be unsympathetic in his relations toward poetry in general, might fail to appreciate the present application, particularly since he himself, though possessing pronounced fondness for the poets, had not fully risen to the idea. As a matter of fact, the suggestion shocked him no less than Cosden's business-like proposition concerning his own marriage. What were people thinking of, these days!
He looked forward to the morrow and to the sailing of the "Arcadian" with a sense of partial relief, for Billy's boyish infatuation and Cosden's impatient demands for interference had considerably disturbed his tranquillity. Huntington was a man of action when he so elected, and he enjoyed doing things when they were of his own choice and could be done in his own time and way; but nothing annoyed him more than to be forced into action by another's choice or election. Now, just as he saw one disturbing element about to be eliminated, another of seemingly greater magnitude loomed up on the horizon, and he cordially wished himself back in Boston with nothing more serious than the east winds to worry him.
But no disturbing element was apparent in his face as he stepped out onto the piazza after his leisurely breakfast the following morning. Glancing around, he discovered Cosden and Miss Stevens standing at the further corner, watching the hustle of the departing guests.
"You're just in time to witness the great event of the day," she greeted him as he joined them, pleased that she had Cosden and Huntington even temporarily to herself. "One of the best things they do down here is to arrange the sailings to New York at a time when one may see the boat off without getting up at all hours of the night."