"By Jove, not very!" he whispered riotously.
She felt like one of those intelligent persons who pull the triggers of supposititiously unloaded guns. By a supreme effort she mastered her emotion and remarked—
"I wonder what your family will say."
He kissed her demonstratively and cried—
"My family be hanged! I'm not going to tell them yet."
"When will you?" she asked, disengaging herself with a difficulty that impressed her still further.
"Time enough when I get back from London."
The widow was not altogether unsophisticated. This blend of abandonment and secrecy impressed her unfavorably. She had known of more than one ballroom proposal where the gentleman was just sufficiently master of his emotions to stipulate for silence till he had departed on a twelvemonth's furlough.
"How soon are you coming back?" she inquired.