“My dear,” said her husband, smiling, “just consider! For anything we know, these young ladies may both be attached and engaged. Hope may be attached elsewhere—.”
“No; that I will answer for it he is not. I—”
“Well, you may have your reasons for being sure on that head. But he may not like the girls; they may not like him:—in short, the only thing that has happened is, that they have seen each other for one quarter of an hour.”
“Well! there is no saying what may come of it.”
“Very true: let us wait and see.”
“But there is no harm in my telling you whatever comes into my head!”
“None in the world, unless you get it so fixed there that somebody else happens to know it too. Be careful, my dear. Let no one of these young people get a glimpse of your speculation. Think of the consequence to them and to yourself.”
“Dear me, Mr Grey! you need not be afraid. What a serious matter you make of a word or two!”
“Because a good many ideas belong to that word or two, my dear.”