"Isn't it lovely to see them so pleased with themselves?" Caroline said, when she had waved her last farewell. "Do you remember Mollie a year ago, how shy and retiring she was? She is like a different creature now."
"Master Bertie is a different creature too," said her father. "He's always been noisy, but I like the sort of noise he makes now better than I did."
"He adores Mollie," said Caroline, "and she is just the wife for him. I love to see them together. You see, Dad, it isn't necessary to fag about in London as a preparation for marriage. Mollie has hardly ever been there."
She seemed to have divined his inmost thoughts, and her speech surprised him a little. "Have you been thinking about that?" he asked.
"No," she said. "I'm quite happy with you, darling, if only you will leave me peacefully to look after you at Abington."
Her words gave him pleasure, but his conscience was aroused about her. "Lord knows I am happy enough to have you," he said. "But I can't keep you for ever. You'll want what Mollie has some day."
"Some day," she said. "Yes. But I have all I want for the present."
"What about Francis?" he asked, after a short pause. "He wants you as much as ever. He told me so."
She looked troubled. "I know he does," she said. "He told me so too."
He waited for her to go on.