“How bad your arm seems!”
“Pish!” exclaimed the young man, beginning to nurse it, then ceasing with a gesture of contempt, and looking helplessly at his visitor. “The pain’s not there,” he said dolefully.
“Poor boy! What a fuss about a pretty face! There, I’m half ready to forgive you. It was very tempting.”
“And I’ve been so happy: I have indeed.”
“What, with those two men?”
“Pish!—nonsense! It’s dreadful that those two sweet ladies should be placed as they are.”
“Amen to that!”
“Mrs Hallam is the sweetest, tenderest-hearted woman I ever met.”
“Indeed.”
“No mother could have been more gentle and loving to me.”