H. B. Marriott Watson

“ It may not be necessary to be so ruthless."
"But how am I to get rid of him?" almost wailed Evelyn.
"Is it necessary to?" he asked, gazing at her, and now he was smiling. Where had she seen him? In a dream?
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"What was his name?" he asked evasively.
"I—I called him Jack—Jack Coverdale."
"And he was a captain," he said thoughtfully. And then: "Well, you might kill him later, if you want to, but it can't be done between now and your sister's arrival. Nor is there any need to. Let's keep up the lark a little longer. One of my names is Jack, and I am a captain." ”

“ Jack was becoming, not a nuisance, but a difficulty. Jack could not go on being postponed; he must either come up to the scratch or disappear. The question thus was: How best could he disappear? It all went very well until she reached the station, where her mother saw her off to Eastbourne. Jack, you must understand, was in a hospital there. Mrs. Melbury sprang the awful news upon her at the last moment.
"Well, take care of yourself, child. And you won't be lonely. Celia is going to join you to-morrow."
Aghast, Evelyn protested. "Celia! Oh, but, mother, I don't want Celia!" ”

“ Her ingenious mind saw the change of killing two birds with one stone. She wanted a few days' holiday, and she announced, on return from the office one evening, that Jack was wounded. She announced it tragically, and enjoyed the sensation the news created among her sisters.
"Where is he?" asked Phœbe.
"In France." (That was safe.)
"Are you going to him?" asked Peggy, in excitement.
"Those things are not done," said Mrs. Melbury.
"Oh, he is sure to be sent to England," said Evelyn, thinking of her projected holiday. ”

“ You know, when Kitty Marlow and I decided to go there, when we got our fortnight from the office, she hadn't a ghost of a notion that her cousin was there."
"Her cousin?" exclaimed Phœbe.
"Yes, he is her cousin. He was on leave, and had gone to Brighton. We met him on the front quite accidentally. Kitty was surprised. Then we went to the music on the pier, you know, and it was delightful!" Evelyn had an ecstatic silence, in which she could conjure up the dramatic situation with all its dreamy sentiment.
"But when did he propose?" asked Celia, with unction. ”

“ This led to a real triumph, for Celia, bustling and eager, angrily charged her with "carrying on."
"An engaged girl like you has no right to go on like that," exclaimed indignant Celia, sore because her prize seemed to have been cut out from under her nose. Surely, reflected Evelyn's subconsciousness, she was engaged. In the end, however, the drama became trying. She had outlived its surprises, as had the rest of the household, and presently trouble about Jack's non-appearance would arise. ”

“ Melbury, who entered at this juncture, was a mild, affectionate woman of the old type, who took consistently and with resignation the attitude of "I don't know what girls are coming to." Her ducklings were beyond her, and went swimming in strange waters. Of course, the War excused Evelyn's being in a Government office and having so much odd independence; but, what with the War and modern notions, life was all topsy-turvy. She saw nothing now in the faces of her children or in their alert excitement, save the result of Evelyn's return from her seaside holiday ”

“ The girls were true to their faith and their injunctions. They did not tell "mother," but there had been no other restriction upon them, so they told Josephine—it was news too greatly exciting and romantic to keep hushed up—and, naturally, Josephine, being married and regarding herself in the light of a co-equal with her mother, told the latter. Mrs. Melbury, for all her helplessness, felt it incumbent upon her to take a parental hand in the extraordinary affair. Her ideas of the modern girl were in rapid process of education, but she felt there were limits. Josephine told her so. ”

“ When these questions and others had been disposed of, they took a turn on the pier; but they didn't talk like lovers, as Celia had anticipated, and she mentioned the fact in the letter she wrote home that afternoon, from which I venture to take a few extracts.
"He is a dear. He is ever so handsome, dark, and just what Evelyn described. And his eyes! I call him Jack, not Captain Coverdale. He asked me to. I don't think Evelyn quite liked it. But she has got all of him, so why can't I have just that little? He is awfully gone on her, but she doesn't show much herself. ”

“ Mrs. Melbury, fluttered still, made a suitable reply.
"Tell Evelyn, dear," she commanded.
In flocked Phœbe and Peggy, and, indeed, Josephine also, who had been dining with her mother and sisters. There was an obvious sensation in the small Hampstead home. Evelyn, fetched by Celia, entered doubting, wistful, troubled, and almost scared. Her mind was in a chaotic state. Jack rose and went to her. ”

“ But he is quite well off. He has more than a thousand a year."
This, indeed, was the only satisfactory part of the irregular business, and Mrs. Melbury perpended.
"He will have to apply for your hand in proper form," she said, with austere maternality.
"Of course," said Evelyn, and, having emerged successfully from the encounter, drew once more and proudly on her imagination. "Jack is a thorough gentleman, and knows exactly what is necessary." ”

“ Melbury explained to Josephine.
"I should think he was all right. He is a gentleman and has a thousand a year."
"Look at the stories in the paper every day," said cynical Josephine. But, after all, it was something to have a thousand a year and to be a gentleman, and so the affair was allowed to drift, only with the stipulation that Jack should formally call and go through the conventions suited to the case.
No letters came to the house, for, as Evelyn explained, he wrote to her at the office, and he was now back in France. When he returned on leave again, he would call. ”

“ It was true that he had taken them to lunch; it was also true that he took them to a concert in the evening, but that was after Celia's letter had been written. He also arranged to meet them on the following morning.
"We must make the most of our time," he said; "you have only the four days, Evelyn"
Celia, you see, had babbled; and Celia did more babbling in her letters home. ”

“ She is quite stand-offish at times. I am sure I shouldn't be, if I had him. He fell against Evy once, because of his horrid wound. I wish it had been me. I let them alone sometimes—you have to—but once or twice Evy turned round and waited for me to come up. ”