'Ay, do they?'
'He goes to church wid her every Sunday these six months, an' him a Roman. I wonder the praste doesn't hinder him. Did ye know that?'
'Ye've told it me now.'
'An' I did hear they've been walkin' about the lanes together in the dusk, so we thought it was time some wan tould ye the road that things was goin'!'
'That 'ud be no harm, if they was goin' to be married,' said Paterson suddenly, prompted by an utterly unexpected instinct—an instinct of protection on behalf of his daughter and of antagonism against the vulgar gossip of the town.
'Ay,' ejaculated the visitor, entirely dumfounded at this unexpected attitude in a man of his proverbial intolerance.
'I'm thinking,' continued the old man reflectively, 'that I'm getting past my work over and above a bit, and Daly's a likely young chap to take into partnership.'
'But he's a Roman.'
'A Roman may make a good business man and a good husband.'
'Ay, sure enough,' gasped the lady, too astounded to say all she thought.