“
Besides," he said, "I had another reason for coming, one that will delight you, I believe, as you have been pestering me for years. I wanted you to meet Miss Goddard, the lady I plan one day soon, when the setting and the atmosphere are quite perfect, to ask to marry me. It is time, you see, to do that most dreaded of all things to men, though suddenly it does not seem so dreadful after all. Indeed, it seems infinitely desirable. It is time to settle down."
He smiled sleepily at Eunice, who gazed briefly and reproachfully back at him, eyebrows raised, her cheeks pink, before wishing his mother a happy birthday.
”
”