iven violets to a woman, and she had never had any
given her by a man.

"Thank you," she said, faintly.

"I've ordered a hack to come for me at half-past seven, and--I
thought maybe you'd like to ride with me," said Albion, further.

Lucinda stared. "What for?" she said again.

"I thought you might like to ride."

Then Lucinda colored. "Why, folks would talk," said she.

"Let them. I don't care; do you?"

"Albion Bennet, I'm a lot older than you. I ain't old enough to be
your mother, but I'm a good deal older than you."

"I don't care," said Albion. "I know how old you are. I don't care.
I'd enough sight rather have you than those young things that keep
racing to my store. When I get you I shall know what I've got, and
when I've got them I shouldn't know. I'd rather have heavy bread, or
dry bread, and know it was bread, than new-fangled things that ain't
a mite more wholesome, and you don't know what you've got. I don't
know how you feel, Lucinda, but I ain't one who could ever marry
somebody he hadn't summered and wintered. I've summered and wintered
you, and you've summered and wintered me. I don't know how much
falling in love there is for either of us, but I reckon we can get on
together and have a good home, and that's what love-making has to
wind up in, if the mainspring don't break and all the works bust. I'm
making quite a little lot from my store. I suppose maybe the soda and
candy trade will fall off a little if I get married, but if it does I
can take a young clerk to draw it. You won't have to work so hard.
You can let some of this big hotel, and keep rooms enough for us, and
I'll hire a girl for the kitchen and you can do fancy-work."

"Land!" said Lucinda. "I can do the work for only two."

"You're going to have a hired girl," said Albion, firmly. "I know of
one I can get. She's a real good cook. Are you going in the hack with
me, Lucinda?"

Lucinda looked up at him, and her face was as the face of a young
girl. She had never had an offer, nor a lover. Albion Bennet looked
very dear to her.

"Good land!" said Albion, "you act as if you were a back number,
Lucinda. You look as young as lots of the young women. You don't do
up your hair quite like the girls that come for soda and candy, but
otherwise--"

"I can do up my hair like them, if I want to," said Lucinda. "It's
thick enough. I suppose I 'ain't fussed because I didn't realize that
anybody but myself ever thought about it one way or t