"But I am afraid it is not Polly. He watches Hanny like a cat watching a mouse."
"Nonsense!" declared Joe.
"But he does. And I don't like it."
"Oh, mother dear, you're a hen with one chick. If there is a rustle in the leaves you think a hawk is going to pounce down."
"Hanny's too young to have lovers." She tried to keep her face in severe lines.
"Hanny isn't thinking about lovers. And Peter is a fine, solid fellow, who is going to make his mark, and who may be a sort of ballast to Jim. I like him."
"Oh, he is well enough. But if there was any fuss it might annoy Dolly. And we have always been so cordial; Margaret was married too young."
"And you were married too young. Now, if you had waited and done without Steve and me, and begun with John—"
There was a twinkle in Doctor Joe's eye.
"I should have begun with the most sensible son," returned his mother; but she could not keep her voice sharp.