Henry C. Rowland

“ Suzanne had never realized the extreme tidiness of the well-valeted bachelor. Few girls are really so well garnished. As for married folk, they usually have other things to think about than the exact military alignment of a dozen pairs of highly polished shoes. Some of Claudius' now turned up their noses at Suzanne, who was wondering if it would ever be her privilege to set them straight. ”

“ Hitherto she had always had a book or needlework as a pretext, if Claudius had stopped to reflect upon her waiting up, which he never had. And yet Suzanne was very loath to go to bed without some reward for a long, lonely evening. She had never succeeded in making friends with Cocky, Pussy, Polly, and Cholly. Cocky politely avoided her; Pussy flung back her advances with a baleful yellow stare; Polly sidled to the far end of his T-perch, lifted his shoulders, and screamed “Yah!” and Cholly served her brother and her with the human responsiveness of a vacuum cleaner. ”

“ There's a woman of about his own age that's always been in love with him, but he's never seemed to think of her in that light, though all their friends know that she's crazy about him and has never married on his account.
“Well, the night of his fortieth birthday, he goes out to celebrate all by himself—wants to think matters over. ”