"Oh, pshaw! I forgot him."
"But we mustn't forget him. You know we promised him that we would tell at once."
"Circumstances alter cases. You must arrange it between you somehow. You can stave off the evil day with your mother. Say you need time to think it over."
"You don't know mamma as well as I do, Jack."
"Then refuse absolutely."
"She'd take me away at once, abroad perhaps. She's made up her mind to this match."
"You must hold it off and on, that is all there is about it. Let her think you are going to consent, but that you mustn't be hurried."
"But think of Mr. Stanley's position. How would you feel in his place?"
"Now, what's the use of arguing suppositious cases when I'm pressed for time? Stanley has accepted the position, and he must make the best of it."
"But if he's afraid Miss Fitzgerald may learn of his proposal to me, and misunderstand."