`` It may transform her from a self-centered old maid into a woman for whom marriage does not seem such an incongruous thing , '' I said . The day on which Mr. Malcolm MacPherson was expected Peggy and I went over . We had planned to remain away , thinking that the lovers would prefer their first meeting to be unwitnessed , but Aunt Olivia insisted on our being present . She was plainly nervous ; the abstract was becoming concrete . Her little house was in spotless , speckless order from top to bottom . Aunt Olivia had herself scrubbed the garret floor and swept the cellar steps that very morning with as much painstaking care as if she expected that Mr. Malcolm MacPherson would hasten to inspect each at once and she must stand or fall by his opinion of them . Peggy and I helped her to dress . She insisted on wearing her best black silk , in which she looked unnaturally fine . Her soft muslin became her much better , but we could not induce her to wear it . Anything more prim and bandboxy than Aunt Olivia when her toilet was finished it has never been my lot to see . Peggy and I watched her as she went downstairs , her skirt held stiffly up all around her that it might not brush the floor . '' ` Mr. Malcolm MacPherson ' will be inspired with such awe that he will only be able to sit back and gaze at her , '' whispered Peggy . `` I wish he would come and have it over . This is getting on my nerves . '' Aunt Olivia went into the parlour , settled herself in the old carved chair , and folded her hands . Peggy and I sat down on the stairs to await his coming in a crisping suspense . Aunt Olivia 's kitten , a fat , bewhiskered creature , looking as if it were cut out of black velvet , shared our vigil and purred in maddening peace of mind . We could see the garden path and gate through the hall window , and therefore supposed we should have full warning of the approach of Mr. Malcolm MacPherson . It was no wonder , therefore , that we positively jumped when a thunderous knock crashed against the front door and re-echoed through the house . Had Mr. Malcolm MacPherson dropped from the skies ?
We afterwards discovered that he had come across lots and XXXXX the house from the back , but just then his sudden advent was almost uncanny .
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