"You overwhelm me," said Father Brown. "Is it about this business your mother started telling me about? Engagements and all that; not what the military historians call a general engagement."
"You know," she said, "that she wants me to be engaged to Captain Musgrave."
"I didn't," said Father Brown with resignation; "but Captain Musgrave seems to be quite a fashionable topic."
"Of course we're very poor," she said, "and it's no good saying it makes no difference."
"Do you want to marry him?" asked Father Brown, looking at her through his half-closed eyes.
She frowned at the floor, and answered in a lower tone:
"I thought I did. At least I think I thought I did. But I've just had rather a shock."
"Then tell us all about it."
"I heard him laugh," she said.
"It is an excellent social accomplishment," he replied.