"Where had he met her? Was she fair or dark? Was she in love with
him?"
The last question was by no means out of the way; the bookseller
"thought she was," for he had seen them together, arm in arm, looking
into shop windows.
"But that he, who was such a stick, could fall in love! It was incredible!"
"And what a husband he would make!" The proprietor knew that he was
_devilish particular_ about his food, and that, he said, was a mistake
when one was married.
"And he likes a glass of punch in the evening, and surely a married
man can't drink punch every evening of his life. And he doesn't like
children! It won't turn out well," he whispered. "Take my word for it,
it won't turn out well. And, gentlemen, there's another thing," (he
rose from his seat, looked round and continued in a whisper), "I believe,
I'm hanged if I don't, that the old hypocrite has had a love affair of
some sort. Do you remember that incident, gentlemen, with the--hihihi
--sleeping suit? He's one of those whom you don't find where you leave
them! Take care, Mrs. Blom! Mind what you are about! I'll say no more!"
It was certainly a fact that the schoolmaster was engaged to be
married and that the wedding was to take place within two months.
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