is
dreadful at concerts, of course, because then they have to be carried
out, and that naturally makes everybody think, of course, that the house
is on fire. Well, the _real_ trouble was, Garda, that I had to have four
knights for you, of coarse, because that's the rule, and there are only
_three_ unmarried men in Gracias--Mr. Winthrop, Manuel (_he's_ away),
and Adolfo (_he's_ away too)--which I must say is a _very_ poor
assortment for anybody to choose from!"

This entirely unintended disparagement made Winthrop smile. In spite of
his smile, however, the Doctor thought he looked preoccupied. The Doctor
had put on his glasses to inspect Betty's spread-out cards, and, having
them on, he took the opportunity to glance across, two or three times,
at their host, who had now left the table, and was seated with a
newspaper near a lamp on the opposite side of the room. Their host, for
such in fact he was, though everything at East Angels went on in Mrs.
Rutherford's name, seemed to the furtively watching Kirby to be at
present something more than preoccupied; his face behind the paper (he
probably thought he was not observed) had taken on a very stern
expression. Having established this point beyond a doubt, the Doctor
felt his cares growing heavier; he crossed the room to a distant window,
and stood there looking out by himself for some time.

It troubled him to see Winthrop with that expression, and the reason it
troubled him was because he could not tell what sternness with him might
mean. It might mean--and then again it might not mean--he confessed to
himself that he had not the least idea what interpretation to give it,
he had never really understood this northerner at all. Garda was engaged
to him, of course, there was no doubt of that; he wished with all his
heart that the engagement had never been formed. But he recognized that
wishes were useless, the thing was done; to the Doctor, an engagement
was almost as binding as a marriage. He stared out into the darkness in
a depressed sort of way, and his back, which was all of him that could
be seen by the others, had a mournful look; the Doctor's back was always
expressive, but generally it expressed a gallant cheerfulness that met
the world bravely. Winthrop's purchase, at a high price, not only of
East Angels with its empty old fields, but also of all the outlying
tracts of swamp and forest land owned by the Dueros, to the very last
acre, had made Garda's position ind