I felt the blood stir about my heart and rise warm to my cheek.

"Some women might, monsieur."

"Is Mdlle. Reuter of the number? Come, speak frankly, mon fils; elle est encore jeune, plus agée que toi peutêtre, mais juste assez pour unir la tendresse d'une petite maman a l'amour d'une épouse dévouée; n'est-ce pas que cela t'irait supérieurement?"

"No, monsieur; I should like my wife to be my wife, and not half my mother."

"She is then a little too old for you?"

"No, monsieur, not a day too old if she suited me in other things."

"In what does she not suit you, William? She is personally agreeable, is she not?"

"Very; her hair and complexion are just what I admire, and her turn of form, though quite Belgian, is full of grace."

"Bravo! and her face? her features? How do you like them?"