23. CHAPTER XXIII.
COMMON-SENSE ARGUMENTS.
HARRY went straightway from the interview to
call upon Lillie, and had a conversation with
her; in which he conducted himself like a sober, discreet,
and rational man. It was one of those daylight,
matter-of-fact kinds of talks, with no nonsense about
them, in which things are called by their right names.
He confessed his own sins, and took upon his own
shoulders the blame that properly belonged there;
and, having thus cleared his conscience, took occasion
to give Lillie a deal of grandfatherly advice, of a very
sedative tendency.
They had both been very silly, he said; and the next
step to being silly very often was to be wicked. For
his part, he thought she ought to be thankful for so
good a husband; and, for his own part, he should lose
no time in trying to find a good wife, who would help
him to be a good man, and do something worth doing
in the world. He had given people occasion to say
ill-natured things about her; and he was sorry for it.
But, if they stopped being imprudent, the world would
in time stop talking. He hoped, some of these days, to
bring his wife down to see her, and to make the acquaintance
of her husband, whom he knew to be a capital fellow,
and one that she ought to be proud of.
Thus, by the intervention of good angels, the little
paper-nautilus bark of Lillie's fortunes was prevented
from going down in the great ugly maelstrom, on the
verge of which it had been so heedlessly sailing.
Harry was not slow in pushing the advantage of his
treaty of friendship with Rose to its utmost limits; and,
being a young gentleman of parts and proficiency, he
made rapid progress.
The interview of course immediately bred the necessity
for at least a dozen more; for he had to explain
this thing, and qualify that, and, on reflection, would
find by the next day that the explanation and qualification
required a still further elucidation. Rose also,
after the first conversation was over, was troubled at
her own boldness, and at the things that she in her
state of excitement had said; and so was only too glad
to accord interviews and explanations as often as
sought, and, on the whole, was in the most favorable
state towards her penitent.
Hence came many calls, and many conferences with
Rose in the library, to Mrs. Van Astrachan's great satisfaction,
and concerning which Mr. Van Astrachan
had many suppressed chuckles and knowing winks at
Polly.
“Now, pa, don't you say a word,” said Mrs. Van
Astrachan.
“Oh, no, Polly! catch me! I see a great deal, but I
say nothing,” said the good gentleman, with a jocular
quiver of his portly person. “I don't say any thing, —
oh, no! by no manner of means.”
Neither at present did Harry; neither do we.
