Willie Beresford asked if he
might stay; otherwise, he said, he should have to sit at a cold
marble table on the corner of Bond Street and Piccadilly, and take
his tea in bachelor solitude.
"Yes," I said severely, "we will allow you to stay; though, as you
are coming to dinner, I should think you would have to go away some
time, if only in order that you might get ready to come back.
You've been here since breakfast-time."
"I know," he answered calmly, "and my only error in judgment was
that I didn't take an earlier breakfast, in order to begin my day
here sooner. One has to snatch a moment when he can, nowadays; for
these rooms are so infested with British swells that a base-born
American stands very little chance!"
Now I should like to know if Willie Beresford is in love with
Francesca. What shall I do--that is what shall we do--if he is,
when she is in love with somebody else? To be sure, she may want
one lover for foreign and another for domestic service. He is too
old for her, but that is always the way. When Alcides, having gone
through all the fatigues of life, took a bride in Olympus, he ought
to have selected Minerva, but he chose Hebe.
I wonder why so many people call him 'Willie' Beresford, at his age.
Perhaps it is because his mother sets the example; but from her lips
it does not seem amiss.
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