"I don't feel any more inclination to wedded life than ever,
nor any likelihood"--here he spoke with effort, as if conscious of a
possible danger on some remote horizon--"of entering it."
"It _would_ have been sudden, wouldn't it?" commented Randolph, with a
short laugh. "Well," he went on, "one who inclines to hospitality must work
with the material at his disposal. I shall be glad, on some occasion or
other," he proceeded, with a slight trace of formality creeping into his
tone, "to entertain your friend."
"I shall be more than glad," replied Cope, "to have you meet."
18
_COPE AT THE CALL OF DUTY_
Cope took his own time in calling upon the Ashburn Avenue circle; but he
finally made, in person, the inquiries for which those made by telephone
were an inadequate substitute. Yet he waited so long that, only a few hours
before the time he had set, he received a sweet but somewhat urgent little
note from Amy Leffingwell suggesting his early appearance. He felt obliged
to employ the first moments of his call in explaining that he had been upon
the point of coming, anyway, and that he had set aside the present hour two
or three days before for this particular purpose: an explanation, he
acknowledged inwardly, which held no great advantage for him.
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