"Not she. Stepmothers never are. I know just what she'll be like—a horrid old hag with red hair and a hump!"
"Then you've not seen her?"
"No."
"You might have waited till you had."
"It would have been too late then," said Charling tragically.
"But your father wouldn't have let you be treated unkindly, silly."
"Fathers generally die when the stepmother comes; or else they can't help themselves. You know that as well as I do."
"I suppose your father is a good sort?"
"He's the best man there is," said Charling indignantly, "and the kindest and bravest, and cleverest and amusingest, and he can sit any horse like wax; and he can fence with real swords, and sing all the songs in all the world. There!"
Harry was silent, racking his brain for arguments.