“Judging from appearances, Phil, I’m ready to say I do know. What about mamma?”
“Ah! there I feel quite satisfied.”
“What, have you spoken to her?”
“No, but she sits and talks to me, and I talk to her.”
“About Julia?”
“Yes; and it seems as if she can read my heart through and through. Don’t think me a vain coxcomb for what I am about to say.”
“I make no promises: say it.”
“I think she likes me very much.”
“Why?”
“She comes into the room sometimes, looking a careworn woman of sixty; and when she has been sitting here for a few minutes, there’s a pleasant smile on her face, as if she were growing younger; her eyes light up, and she seems quite at rest and happy.”