"But he did, Jeffrey."
"How do you know he came on purpose."
"He told her so."
"I did not think the boy had so much spirit in him," said the Doctor. This was a way of looking at it which Mrs. Wortle had not expected. Her husband seemed rather to approve than otherwise of what had been done. At any rate, he had expressed none of that loud horror which she had expected. "Nevertheless," continued the Doctor, "he's a stupid fool for his pains."
"I don't know that he is a fool," said Mrs. Wortle.
"Yes; he is. He is not yet twenty, and he has all Oxford before him. How did Mary behave?"
"Like an angel," said Mary's mother.
"That's of course. You and I are bound to believe so. But what did she do, and what did she say?"
"She told him that it was simply impossible."
"So it is,—I'm afraid. She at any rate was bound to give him no encouragement."