"What in the world--" Mrs. Thatcher began.
"We"re married!" Cosden announced, his face beaming with happiness and satisfaction.
"Yes,--that"s right," Edith corroborated, seeing doubt in the eager faces peering at them, speechless with surprise. "I told you that if once I gave Connie half a chance he"d have me packed up and shipped before I knew it, and that"s just what has happened!"
"Don"t apologize," Marian laughed, kissing her. "I think you"ve done a very smart thing to elope like this."
"Good heavens, Connie, I never thought of that! An elopement for me would just be the last thing in the world! How can you call it that when there is no one to elope from but Ricky!"
"Whatever you call it, I"ve got you!" Cosden declared, tapping his pocket. "The parson gave me a perfectly good bill of sale, and it will take some trying to break this contract. Now don"t you try!"
Thatcher was the only one who rose fully to the occasion, and as a result of his presence of mind the butler appeared with a bottle of Pommery from which he filled the accompanying gla.s.ses. After Thatcher proposed the toast to the happy couple, Huntington again raised his gla.s.s to Cosden.
"Here"s to Edith, G.o.d bless her!" he exclaimed.
Cosden understood, and the spirit of mischief seized him.
"How about that other toast we drank that night, Monty?"
Huntington put his arm around Merry"s waist and drew her closer to him.
"It stands!" he replied with smiling defiance. "To Marian--little Marian--G.o.d bless her!"
"You rascal! You slipped it over on me!"
"Well, good-bye, people!" Edith interrupted.
"Stay for supper," Mrs. Thatcher urged.
"No; here it is five o"clock and the wedding breakfast hasn"t been served yet. We"re off!"
"It is pitiful to see you kidnapped like this," Marian teased her.
"Oh, well!" she looked slyly up into her husband"s face. "Connie"s not a bad sort as men go, and I"m game to take a chance."
"Isn"t she the best ever?" Cosden cried proudly. "I"m strong for the Benedicts and the Benedictines! Hurry up, Monty,--go and do likewise!"
They were off like a whirlwind, then all returned to Hamlen on the piazza. The two boys had stayed with him while the farewells were spoken at the door. Billy felt a bond of sympathy at last, for he too had suffered from the perfidy of woman! Philip was genuinely fond of Hamlen, and the older man clung to his friendship with even greater tenacity since this return to his normal condition.
"We are talking war," Hamlen explained to Marian as they returned to him. "These boys are eager to see what is going on over there."
"So we"ve heard," she replied, smiling indulgently. "They have presented the case to us from as many angles as a certain manufacturer has varieties of pickles."
"It would be a wonderful object lesson," Hamlen said meditatively. "Even to read about it makes our own troubles insignificant; what an opportunity, if on the spot, to give out from one"s own personality, and thus demonstrate the teachings of the humanists in practical fashion!"
The idea seemed to take possession of him, and his rigid figure and set features so clearly betrayed the workings of a strong emotion that no one interrupted him. At length he turned abruptly.
"Huntington!" he cried.
His friend stepped quickly to his side.
"I believe this war was started especially for me!" he declared.
"For you?" Huntington echoed, surprised.
"Why isn"t this my opportunity? Here I am, longing for the chance to express myself in doing something for some one else. I haven"t a tie in the world to keep me from going over there. I have money which couldn"t be devoted to a better cause, and I speak the languages like a native."
"By Jove!" Huntington replied; "you"ve solved the problem! Be the first to endow a college unit, Hamlen, and let it be for the glory of Harvard. You can equip the outfit, select your professional corps, and go over with it to superintend the business end. It"s a capital notion!"
"I"ll do it!" Hamlen said decisively. "With a definite purpose like this ahead of me, I"ll shake this weakness in no time.--How about the boys?
I"ll need some chauffeurs."
"Not Philip!" Mrs. Thatcher cried.
"Let me have him, Marian?" Hamlen begged. "The personal danger will be slight, and I don"t need tell you that I"ll watch over him as if he were my own son."
She looked appealingly to her husband.
"I"d let him go," Thatcher said. "There"s no chance for him to get started in business for several months yet, and I"m grateful to Hamlen for offering him this opportunity under such wonderful conditions."
Philip pleaded. "You won"t hold out now, will you, Mother?"
"I can"t," she answered soberly. "With your father"s approval, and with Mr. Hamlen"s a.s.surances, I should surely be opposing Nature, shouldn"t I?"
Her question was put to Huntington, who understood it. He smiled approvingly.
"Good for you, little woman," he whispered. "There are times when we must bow to something stronger than ourselves; this is one of them."
"How about me?" Billy demanded.
"I think I may promise to secure consent," Huntington a.s.sured him.
"Come on, Phil," Billy seized his chum"s arm. "Let"s go out in the garage and practise on those cars."
Marian disappeared within doors to quiet the apprehensions of her mother-heart; Thatcher drew a chair beside Hamlen"s to discuss the war, which now a.s.sumed a personal interest; Huntington and Merry quietly slipped down the steps, and wandered through the formal garden to their favorite retreat.
"Why not watch the sunset from the water-garden?" Merry asked.
The sun set in proper and glorious fashion into the sea at the foot of the avenue of maple trees, but the successful completion of its task did not suggest to the lovers a return to the house. Still they sat on the curiously-cut stone seat, and told each other that story which is older than the stone, and which was first told long before Benten became the G.o.ddess of Love. Twilight deepened into dusk, and stirred within Huntington"s mind a quotation from a kindred soul who felt as he felt, but who couched his thought in more fitting words than he himself could choose:
"I wonder if you love to listen to the music of the night as I do, dear heart,--with its s.p.a.ce, its mystery, its uplift of spirit? It is written in the key of the ideal and in the cadence of the divine."
"Oh, Monty!" she murmured contentedly, "I do; for it is written in the key of happiness, and in the cadence of my beloved"s voice!"
"You forgive me for being too old?"
"Not too old, my darling,--just born too soon!"