Page:Georgie by Dorothea Deakin, 1906.djvu/65

The Goddess Girl "Yes," I said slowly, watching her intently. "But my errand was a double one. I went to town principally to hunt for my best man. I found him."

"Who?" with obvious interest. "And why not Georgie?"

"Georgie won't. This is an old friend of mine," I said slowly. "A friend of childhood's hour. A man called Muggeridge with a monocle. Stout and sandy, but a good chap at heart. Lucky beggar!"

I sighed.

"Why lucky?" Her interest was growing.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh, fortune's favorite, and that sort of thing, don't you know? Just had a legacy from an uncle running well into five figures. When you come to think of it, Anne, ninety thousand pounds will give an air of affluence even to our humble wedding."

"It will, indeed." Her voice was weighty with respect for him, and I felt that a little of it was even reflected on me, the prospective owner of such a grooms- 49