'Well, when she does?' said Mrs. Nettlepoint, for I hesitated perceptibly.
'It is so extravagant a course that some one has to pay for it.'
'You are very impertinent. We all have to pay for each other, all the while; and for each other's virtues as well as vices.'
'That's precisely why I shall be sorry for Mr. Porterfield when she steps off the ship with her little bill. I mean with her teeth clenched.'
'Her teeth are not in the least clenched. She is in perfect good-humour.'
'Well, we must try and keep her so,' I said. 'You must take care that Jasper neglects nothing.'
I know not what reflection this innocent pleasantry of mine provoked on the good lady's part; the upshot of them at all events was to make her say—'Well, I never asked her to come; I'm very glad of that. It is all their own doing.'
'Their own—you mean Jasper's and hers?'
'No indeed. I mean her mother's and Mrs. Allen's; the girl's too of course. They put themselves upon us.'
'Oh yes, I can testify to that. Therefore I'm glad too. We should have missed it, I think.'