Three Men and a Maid

sfied with a bald statement like that; they will have a Spoken Title or a Cut-Back Sub-Caption or whatever t

WITH HOPE AND YOUTH AND SWEETNESS, LINKING TWO YOUNG H

nts a key to my cellar" or something equally appropriate, very soulfully and slowly, with a wistful eye on the half-smoked cigarette which he has parked on the lowest octave an

offensive jauntiness of the man who has had a cold bath when he might just as easily have had a h

welled his glowing back, he had suddenly come to the decision that this very day he would propose to Wilhelmina Bennett. Ye

g him on the piano and the rest of the family sitting on the side-lines to see that no rough stuff was pulled. Having noted that she drooped her eyelashes and turned faintly pink when he came to the "Thee-only thee!" bit, he felt a mild sense of encouragement, strong enough to justify him in taking her sister aside next day and asking if the object of his affections ever happened to mention his name in the course of conversation. Further pour-parlers having passed with her aunt, two more sisters, and her lit

His courtship can hardly be called a courtship at all.

r cool assurance

Emily who has ch

e you. Will you ma

Certainly, Alphon

, reading, talking, soup-drinking, tea-drinking, and shuffle-board-playing which they had done together had merely solidified his original impression. He loved this girl with all the force of a fiery nature-the fiery nature of the Marlowes was a byword in Bruton Street, Berkeley Square-and something seemed to wh

eneath the mirror and, collecting his sh

y through the soap, "I am, I am the Ba

clothes in the lower b

ace Hignett thrustin

n happening to Eustace during the last few days, and it was quite

bad again

t churlishly, "until you began the farmya

us! The

lk about

than it has ever shone in the histor

ll induce m

buster and have an

Hignett

eyed Sam sourly. "You seem devilish

away. He hesitated. Then the desire to

said apologetica

mped his head sharply against the berth

e the voya

achfully. "I told you my troubles. Why did you not l

these last few days I had a notion that your

is

rl I met

s a friend I entreat you not to do it! Take my a

t do

re the devil, whether they marry you or jilt you. Do you realise that women wear black evening dresses that have to be hooked up in a hurry when

thought it

of such a thing happening-of a boy with spectacles and protruding front teeth who asks questions all the time? Out of six small boys whom I saw when I came o

icate," said Sam stiffly. "A

rest of the voyage. You can easily dodge her when you get to Southamp

was that a girl with ideals had broken off her engagement with this man

*

pelled a man to great deeds, a morning which shouted to him to chuck his chest out and be romantic. The sight of Billie Bennett, trim and gleaming in a pale green sweater and a white skirt had the effect of causing Marlowe to alter the programme wh

ning, Mis

ning, Mr.

t a perf

derf

erence on board ship i

doesn'

alk round?"

n a dull trance till the steward should arrive with the eleven o'clock soup. Others, more energetic, strode up and down. From the point of vi

e said. "Let's go on

read to me. Go and f

cted works almost anywhere and shut your eyes and dab down your finger on some red-hot passage. A proposal of marriage is a thing which it is rather difficult to bring neatly into the ordinary run of conversation. It w

t?" said

ennyson you gave me? I

ee you

are you go

am making for the door. "She wants me to

nny

es

e uppe

s the

Eustace Hignett, turni

ght of steps and found himself in the only part of the ship which was ever even comparat

er mast. He hurried on, and presently came upon Billie sitting on a garden seat, backed by the white roof of the smoke-room; beside this was a small deck which seemed to have lost its way and strayed up here all by itself. It was the deck on which one could o

g down beside the girl and drawi

his deck. It's

re of not meeting stout men in flannels and nautical caps. An

uld be

oser. "We would sail about, visiting desert islands

W

wouldn't be any fun i

ery compl

. I'm not fond of

aren'

that I had one of those rare spiritual natures which cannot be satisfied with substitutes but must seek and seek till they find their soul-mate. When other men all r

asn't ...

d then I would pour out upon her the stored-up devotion of a lifetime, lay

Like having a circ

id Sam after a

ought that that would be the mo

he world is love, a pure and c

lo!" sai

present and correct; nevertheless there was something missing, some familiar object which seemed to leave a gap. He now perceived that what had caused the feeling was the complete absence of Brea

, Bream!"

!" sai

ream Mortimer.

was a

might be here

we are,"

re here,"

s anothe

join you?"

" said

," sa

. "No ... that is to sa

s a thir

I believe I'll take a stroll on the

imer, having bumped his head twice agai

llow?" demanded

of father's

ys been so individual to him that he ha

am. I suppose it was because Bream was sailing by her that father insisted on my coming over on th

hel

miliar attitude with rather less affection than the son of her father's best friend

e ship's concert to-morrow night nobbled me to do a couple of songs. He wanted to know if I knew

id Sam.

a couple of women who both want to sing 'The Rosary' but h

te s

hovered wistfully above them.

" sai

am!" sai

el

. I'm sure she must be feeling lonely. I lef

spread itself ov

d! Oh, say,

very ni

if you were a giraffe or something and she w

you some of her big-game hunting exp

ifted sa

e Miss Hubbar

do you

him with a rifle. I should like to do it my

alk about me. Read

sation. Only by reading poetry, it seemed to him, could it be recovered. And when he saw the passage at which the volume had opened he realised that his luck was in

red his

the sol

beneath

y life h

have found

come what

ter if I

have had

weet heav

and dark

am quite

is one to l

d see the girl sitting with a soft smile on her face, her eyes, big and dre

ch I have been trying to say ever since we met, som

t. She did not w

ean ... if you had the merest notion, dearest ... I don't know what's the matter with me ... Billie, darling, you are the only girl in the world! I have been looking for you for years and years and I have found you at last, my soul-mate. Surely this does not come as a surprise to you? That is, I mean, you must hav

sweet and tender, her eyes misty. He slid an a

*

herself away, a

aid, "I've a con

ion? You?

rible thought. I was wond

.. I mean ... why, it's so vast, it's bound to

ttern on the de

efore-and it was not so very long ago,

ghed he

ut that absurd busine

net

rted vi

u k

! He told

im? Where did

y cousin. As a matter of fact, we a

, this is awful! What sh

genial quip. Just say: 'Oh, here you are!'

l be te

he only possible way. It was absurd his ever expecting you to marry him. I mean to say, just look a

keep pigs?" she

d exhibition of pure nerve. A dear, good fellow, of course, but hopeless where the sterner realities of life are concerned. A man who can't even stop a dog-fight! In a world w

mean. He really

by a

her chin

as quite a dear

d chap," said

first attracted me to him was his beautiful

ion to praising poor old Eustace within decent limits, but the conversa

. Not lately. He does drawing-room ballads a

love is like a glowing tulip tha

wing-room ballad. Now something funny, something that will make people laugh, so

g that sort

been good eno

cert to-morrow! The idea of your trying to hide your light under a bushel! I will

had sung in public had been at a house-supper at school, seven years before, and that on that occasion someb

llie. "I'll tell Bream when I go d

ll-

er it is. You are so wonderful in every way

second place he had remembered that there was no need for him to sing at all. He could do that imitation of Frank Tinney which had been s

sed her, the cloud ca

ed solicitously, "

ing of fathe

f the morning took on a

will think that we have been a little precipitate, eh? He will

," agreed Billie. "You see I know he ha

timer! What a sil

over in England now, and are trying to get a house in the country for the summer whic

ow be brought any closer to yo

ea, I'm sure. Of cours

am

t him myself," sa

sticks and bits of wood, now invaded the upper deck. The

he said as they made their way below,

rather quick-tempered. You

the glass every morning for th

of Father. He wished he could induce Billie to allow him to waive the formality of thawing Father. Eustace Hignett had apparently been able to do so. But that experience had presu