“Ah, if I only could!”
“Oh, I could tell you a way; for I have known it done; and now he is as happy as a prince. You see, my lady, some men are like children; to make them happy you must give them their own way; and so, if I was in your place, I wouldn't make two bites of a cherry, for sometimes I think he will fret himself out of the world for want on't.”
“Heaven forbid!”
“It is my belief you would not be long behind him.”
“No, Mary. Why should I?”
“Then—whisper, my lady!”
And, although Lady Bassett drew slightly back at this freedom, Mary Wells poured into her ear a proposal that made her stare and shiver.
As for the girl's own face, it was as unmoved as if it had been bronze.
Lady Bassett drew back, and eyed her askant with amazement and terror.
“What is this you have dared to say?”