"I really had not observed the number of your charming family—how many are there of you?"
"A baker's dozen." Charlotte laughed, and the youth felt mortified. The laugh was natural, and clearly extorted, without a thought of himself.
"When you are all married," he said, "you will form a little world in yourselves."
"When the sky falls we shall catch larks."
{When the sky…. = an old proverb, found in English, French, and even Latin, meaning that the idea or proposal is absurd}
"Surely, you intend to marry?"
Maria made no reply, but turned her eyes on Delafield, with an affected expression of melancholy that excited another laugh in her friend.
"You certainly have made no rash vow on the subject," continued Seymour, pretending to a slight interest in her answer.
"My troth is not yet plighted," said the lady, a little archly.
"But there is no telling how long it will continue so."