“The prettiest woman?” West repeated, gallantly, emphasizing the noun. “Well, I don’t think I should have to hesitate long about that.”
“Well, who?”
“Mrs. Douglas Briggs, of course.”
Fanny’s eyes rested affectionately on her aunt. “Of course,” she agreed. “But somehow,” she went on, “I never think about Auntie as pretty. I just think of her as good. I don’t believe she ever had a mean thought or did a mean thing in her life. Don’t you think she’s perfectly lovely?” she asked, inconsistently. Fanny looked up into West’s face and noticed that it had flushed deeply.
“Yes, she is perfectly lovely,” he repeated in a low voice.
“Now, if I were a man I’d fall head over heels in love with her.”
“And then what would happen?” West asked, without taking his eyes off Mrs. Briggs’s face.
“Why, I’d marry her, of course.”
“And what would become of Mr. Briggs?”
“Uncle Doug?” Fanny asked in surprise. “Oh, I’d have fallen in love long before he came along.”