And the young man was right. He was sought after and courted
by fashionable mothers who saw only in this beau ideal of a
son-in-law--fine houses, fine carriages and in short everything that
wealth could give.
The worldly Mrs. Verne was not without her day dreams on this
subject. She never let an opportunity slip when she could show Mr.
Tracy that patronage which his prospects demanded.
But this woman of the world did nothing rashly. She was always
acting from motive and though apparently unconcerned was keenly
alive to the situation of the hour.
Such was the tenor of Phillip Lawson's thoughts as he chatted to
Hubert Tracy for more than half an hour, when the latter departed
less satisfied than when he entered. Then the former set to work
upon some important business, and being a rapid penman, soon
finished the job. Finding time for a short brown study, or more
properly speaking a soliloquy.
"If I go out there and be dissatisfied it will be worse than ever,
and there is Lottie, I cannot think of taking her with me. The poor
child would break her heart if I left her behind, and our cosy home
would be broken up--perhaps forever."
Home had always been the oasis in the dreary waste of Phillip
Lawson's late eventful life.
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