"Oh yes, I know--I mean to say----"
"No, no, Gertrude, say what you had on your lips, then! No prevarication, and no hesitation--what was it?"
"No, really, nothing--it is only----"
"I insist!"
"Well, what I mean to say is--of course, people will talk in a village, you know--and we've heard about your engagement, you know, and how it was broken off, and how badly you were treated, and--oh, how silly I was to say a word about it! I'm sure George would be horribly cross if he knew!"
"And did you imagine I was grizzling over my past, cursing the day when I first saw the faithless fair, and indulging in other poetic rhapsodies! My dear Gertrude, it's not a pleasant thing being jilted; but one lives to get over it and forget all about it, even to forgive her whom I believe it is correct to call the false one!"
"Yes, I dare say! In fact, George and Maude both said you didn't think anything about it now, and----"
"Maude! did she know of it too?"
"Oh yes, we all knew of it! The old woman who had been housekeeper, or cook, or something here in the old Ashurst's time, told George, and----"
"What did Maude say about it?" interrupted Joyce.