'That's quite true.'
'And, after all, it's really only expression that makes things real.
'If you don't talk about a thing, it has never happened.''
'But it doesn't always follow that a thing has happened because you do talk about it,' said Edith. 'Ah, Mrs Mitchell's going !'
She floated away.
He remained in a rather ecstatic state of absence of mind.
* * * * *
Mrs Mitchell gladly told Edith all about Aylmer Ross, how clever he was, how nice, how devoted to his little boy. He had married very young, it seemed, and had lost his wife two years after. This was ten years ago, and according to Mrs Mitchell he had never looked at another woman since. Women love to simplify in this sentimental way.
'However,' she said consolingly, 'he's still quite young, under forty, and he's sure to fall in love and marry again.'
'No doubt,' said Edith, wishing the first wife had remained alive. She disliked the non-existent second one.
* * * * *