“Well, I don’t know about that,” said the Mayor, guardedly.
“Just tell me what you want,” continued Berty. “I know lots of girls, but I suppose you will want a woman. I know some of them, too--must she be light or dark?”
Mr. Jimson looked at Berty. “Black hair.”
“Very well--black hair to start with. Not tall, but short, I suppose.”
“Why short?” asked the Mayor, suspiciously.
“Well, you’re not dreadfully tall for a man, you know.”
The Mayor seemed to be sulking for some time. Then he said, “I like a good-sized woman.”
“Tall and black-haired,” said Berty, in a businesslike way. “Now, do you want a quiet woman, or a lively woman--a social woman, or a home body?”
“None of your rattlers for me,” said the man, hastily. “I want a quiet tongue, good manners, and no wasteful habits.”
“Oh, law, no!” said her companion, wearily. “Upon my word, I think a deaf and dumb wife would suit me best. Then she couldn’t go to parties and drag me with her--Look here, there’s a woman I’ve seen sometimes when I go to church with my mother, that I’ve often thought was a nice-looking kind of person. You’d be sure to know her, for one of her brothers is a great friend of your brother-in-law.”
Her companion seemed to have some hesitation about mentioning the name. At last he said, “Mother says her first name is Selina.”
“Not Selina Everest--don’t tell me that,” said Berty, quickly.
Berty groaned. “And is she the only woman you have in your mind?”
“She’s the only one I can think of now as cutting any kind of a figure before me.”
“Selina Everest!” groaned Berty again. “Why don’t you say the Queen of England and be done with it? She’s the most exclusive of our ridiculously exclusive set. She is an aristocrat to her finger-tips. She wouldn’t look at you--that is, I don’t think--she probably wouldn’t--”
“How old is she?” asked the Mayor, breaking in upon her.
“Let me see--Tom, her brother, is six years older than I am, Walter is twenty-seven, Jim is thirty, Maude is older than he is, and Augustus is older than that. Oh, Miss Everest must be nearly forty.”
“Then she’ll jump at a chance to marry,” said the Mayor, coolly. “Has she a good temper?”
“No, no, she is always ladylike, but I am just sure she wouldn’t marry you.”