Neith Boyce

“ Doe was the sole spectator of the group. He made no attempt to join in the general gayety. One young matron having tried to draw him into it, by means of a leafy garland thrown about his neck, he mildly resisted, and unobtrusively got rid of the garland and the lady, and continued to study Milly.
Milly was being made love to, and apparently did not mind; but when the ardor of the youth on her left, and the middle-aged gentleman on her right, became more pronounced, she began to sing. She sang Irish love songs, sweet and melancholy, and the uproarious crowd fell silent and grew sentimental. ”

“ And, motioning him into the only big chair, Milly set a table at his elbow, and vanished into the kitchenette, where she just saved the steak from burning. In a few moments she returned, and beckoned Mr. Doe into the minute dining room, where he found a round table set for two, with shaded candles on it, and red roses, and a small pot steak and a complex salad, and a few other things.
“I did not expect this,” he said solemnly. “I thought I might get you to go out to dinner with me. I had no idea you could cook. This steak is very good—also the salad. You are a remarkable person.” ”

“ Doe slowly, “that it's best not to like people too much. I think the best women are not the disturbing, maddening sort, but the soothing:
“Life isn't soothing,” said Milly abruptly. “I think your ideal is rather—somniferous.
“Perhaps it is,” Mr. Doe admitted. “But it's likely to remain an ideal. You see, I'm an unbalanced sort of fellow, and feel that I should like an anchor.”
“Well, can't you find one? A solid person of middle age, say a widow who has settled down and——”
“Perhaps could,” said Mr. Doe mournfully. “But the misfortune is that that sort of person doesn't attract me.” ”

“ Doe fervently. “Nothing would induce me to! However, I shall go. I shall leave a cable address, and shall return on one condition. You know what that is.”
“Very well,” said Milly coldly. “Good-by.”
Mr. Doe slowly went into the hall, and put on his mackintosh. Then, hat in hand, he came back, and sadly looked at Milly.
“No man can avoid his fate,” he said. “It was wasted energy, my running away from the others. You were the dangerous one, and I couldn't run from you—that is, not fast enough! Good-by, Millicent, my love!”
“Good-by,” said Milly, giving him her hand, but keeping her eyes down. ”

“ Doe.
“And yet you stayed a week in the house with me at the Bellamys'.”
“True; but you were different then. Now, if I had fallen in love with a person who was what I thought you were, I don't believe I'd mind it.”
“Only you wouldn't fall in love with such a person.”
“That's exactly—er, well——” stammered Mr. Doe.
“Well,” said Milly, “I'm afraid your case is hopeless.”
“I fear it is,” said Mr. Doe. “I shall soon return to the wilderness—it's the only place where I can lead a quiet life.”
Here they were joined by some other people, and Milly talked no more that night with Mr. Doe. ”

“ When I first saw you, I took you to be about twenty—but after seeing you at the Goodridges', radiant and full of color one minute and the next tired and bleached out, I think you must be at least thirty. Now, at thirty, a woman shouldn't wait for a fairy prince; she should make the best of what she can get. If you should entertain the idea I mentioned, write me. or still better, cable to the above address. It will always reach me, though I am going on a short expedition. Milly filed this letter away with the other two, but she did not write or cable to Mr. Doe. ”

“ Doe, the ingenuous Anne proceeded:
He even said last night, Milly—and this is really why I'm writing you—that if he ever married, he thought he would like to marry a person like you! He said American women generally have too much individuality and are too disturbing, and that what a man wanted in a wife was something soothing and restful and unexciting ”

“ If not, don't you think you could reconsider your notions about marrying? After all, they were romantic, you know, and you are getting on toward the time when one should think of being sensible and arranging a comfortable middle age for oneself. ”