第42章

"A happy New Year, Aunty, same to you, Cousin, and best wishes for as many more as you deserve," said Mac, heeding Steve no more than if he had been a fly as he gave the old lady a hearty kiss and offered Rose a quaint little nosegay of pansies.

"Heart's-ease­do you think I need it?" she asked, looking up with sudden sobriety.

"We all do.Could I give you anything better on a day like this?""No­thank you very much." And a sudden dew came to Rose's eyes, for, though often blunt in speech, when Mac did do a tender thing, it always touched her because he seemed to understand her moods so well.

"Has Archie been here? He said he shouldn't go anywhere else, but Ihope you talked that nonsense out of his head," said Steve, settling his tie before the mirror.

"Yes, dear, he came but looked so out of spirits I really felt reproached.

Rose cheered him up a little, but I don't believe he will feel equal to making calls and I hope he won't, for his face tells the whole story much too plainly," answered Aunty Plenty, rustling about her bountiful table in her richest black silk with all her old lace on.

"Oh, he'll get over it in a month or two, and Phebe will soon find another lover, so don't be worried about him, Aunty," said Steve, with the air of a man who knew all about that sort of thing.

"If Archie does forget, I shall despise him, and I know Phebe won't try to find another lover, though she'll probably have them­she is so sweet and good!" cried Rose indignantly, for, having taken the pair under her protection, she defended them valiantly.

"Then you'd have Arch hope against hope and never give up, would you?"asked Mac, putting on his glasses to survey the thin boots which were his especial abomination.

"Yes, I would, for a lover is not worth having if he's not in earnest!""Exactly.So you'd like them to wait and work and keep on loving till they made you relent or plainly proved that it was no use.""If they were good as well as constant, I think I should relent in time.""I'll mention that to Pemberton, for he seemed to be hit the hardest, and a ray of hope will do him good, whether he is equal to the ten years'

wait or not," put in Steve, who liked to rally Rose about her lovers.

"I'll never forgive you if you say a word to anyone.It is only Mac's odd way of asking questions, and I ought not to answer them.You will talk about such things and I can't stop you, but I don't like it," said Rose, much annoyed.

"Poor little Penelope! She shall not be teased about her suitors but left in peace till her Ulysses comes home," said Mac, sitting down to read the mottoes sticking out of certain fanciful bonbons on the table.

"It is this fuss about Archie which has demoralized us all.Even the owl waked up and hasn't got over the excitement yet, you see.He's had no experience, poor fellow, so he doesn't know how to behave," observed Steve, regarding his bouquet with tender interest.

"That's true, and I asked for information because I may be in love myself someday and all this will be useful, don't you see?""You in love!" And Steve could not restrain a laugh at the idea of the bookworm a slave to the tender passion.

Quite unruffled, Mac leaned his chin in both hands, regarding them with a meditative eye as he answered in his whimsical way: "Why not? I intend to study love as well as medicine, for it is one of the most mysterious and remarkable diseases that afflict mankind, and the best way to understand it is to have it.I may catch it someday, and then I should like to know how to treat and cure it.""If you take it as badly as you did measles and whooping cough, it will go hard with you, old fellow," said Steve, much amused with the fancy.

"I want it to.No great experience comes or goes easily, and this is the greatest we can know, I believe, except death."Something in Mac's quiet tone and thoughtful eyes made Rose look at him in surprise, for she had never heard him speak in that way before.

Steve also stared for an instant, equally amazed, then said below his breath, with an air of mock anxiety: "He's been catching something at the hospital, typhoid probably, and is beginning to wander.I'll take him quietly away before he gets any wilder.Come, old lunatic, we must be off.""Don't be alarmed.I'm all right and much obliged for your advice, for I fancy I shall be a desperate lover when my time comes, if it ever does.

You don't think it impossible, do you?" And Mac put the question so soberly that there was a general smile.

"Certainly not­you'll be a regular Douglas, tender and true," answered Rose, wondering what queer question would come next.

"Thank you.The fact is, I've been with Archie so much in his trouble lately that I've gotten interested in this matter and very naturally want to investigate the subject as every rational man must, sooner or later, that's all.Now, Steve, I'm ready." And Mac got up as if the lesson was over.

"My dear, that boy is either a fool or a genius, and I'm sure I should be glad to know which," said Aunt Plenty, putting her bonbons to rights with a puzzled shake of her best cap.

"Time will show, but I incline to think that he is not a fool by any means," answered the girl, pulling a cluster of white roses out of her bosom to make room for the pansies, though they did not suit the blue gown half so well.

Just then Aunt Jessie came in to help them receive, with Jamie to make himself generally useful, which he proceeded to do by hovering around the table like a fly about a honey pot when not flattening his nose against the windowpanes to announce excitedly, "Here's another man coming up the drive!"Charlie arrived next in his most sunshiny humor, for anything social and festive was his delight, and when in this mood the Prince was quite irresistible.He brought a pretty bracelet for Rose and was graciously allowed to put it on while she chid him gently for his extravagance.

"I am only following your example, for you know 'nothing is too good for those we love, and giving away is the best thing one can do,' " he retorted, quoting words of her own.