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Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924

"Chance"


"I am highly flattered," I said. "I have always heard that there are no
limits to feminine intuition; and now I am half inclined to believe it is
so. But still I fail to see in what way my sagacity, practical or
otherwise, can be of any service to Mrs. Fyne. One man's sagacity is
very much like any other man's sagacity. And with you at hand--"
Fyne, manifestly not attending to what I was saying, directed straight at
me his worried solemn eyes and struck in:
"Yes, yes. Very likely. But you will come--won't you?"
I had made up my mind that no Fyne of either sex would make me walk three
miles (there and back to their cottage) on this fine day. If the Fynes
had been an average sociable couple one knows only because leisure must
be got through somehow, I would have made short work of that special
invitation. But they were not that. Their undeniable humanity had to be
acknowledged. At the same time I wanted to have my own way. So I
proposed that I should be allowed the pleasure of offering them a cup of
tea at my rooms.
A short reflective pause--and Fyne accepted eagerly in his own and his
wife's name.


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