“Is that the term he used?” I inquired.
“Well, he may have said when they attract too much attention.”
I ventured to discriminate. “It’s we who attract the attention—by talking about what doesn’t concern us and about what we really don’t know.”
“She said the Captain said he’d tell on her as soon as ever we arrive,” Mrs. Gotch none the less serenely pursued.
“She said—?” I repeated, bewildered.
“Well, he did say so, that he’d think it his duty to inform Mr. Porterfield when he comes on to meet her—if they keep it up in the same way,” said Mrs. Peck.
“Oh they’ll keep it up, don’t you fear!” one of the gentlemen exclaimed.
“Dear madam, the Captain’s having his joke on you,” was, however, my own congruous reply.
“No, he ain’t—he’s right down scandalised. He says he regards us all as a real family and wants the family not to be downright coarse.” I felt Mrs. Peck irritated by my controversial tone: she challenged me with considerable spirit. “How can you say I don’t know it when all the street knows it and has known it for years—for years and years?” She spoke as if the girl had been engaged at least for twenty. “What’s she going out for if not to marry him?”
“Perhaps she’s going to see how he looks,” suggested one of the gentlemen.