There were three children, and they had a governess--
Lilian, in fact, who was then not much more than eighteen. I liked
the look of her from the first. She was very still and grave,--the
kind of thing that takes me in a woman, provided she has good
features. I managed to get a word or two with her, and I liked her
way of speaking. Well, I was sufficiently interested to say to
myself that I might as well spend a week or two. at Stockholm and
keep up the acquaintance of these people; Becket, their name was.
I'm not exactly the kind of fellow who goes about falling in love
with nursery governesses, and at that time (perhaps you recollect?)
I had somebody else in mind. I dare say it was partly the contrast
between that shark of a woman and this modest girl; at all events, I
wanted to see more of Lilian, and I did I was in Stockholm, of! and
on, for a couple of months. I became good friends with the Beckets,
and before coming back to England I made an offer to Miss Allen--
that was the governess's name. She refused me, and I was conceited
enough to wonder what the deuce she meant."
Glazzard laughed. He was listening with more show of interest.
"Well," pursued Quarrier, after puffing vainly at his extinguished
pipe, "there was reason for wondering. Before I took the plunge, I
had a confidential talk with Mrs. Becket, who as good as assured me
that I had only to speak; in fact, she was rather angry with me for
disturbing her family arrangements.
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