"Oh, Martha, you see the baker must know, and he told me for a positive fact. They're engaged."
"What! Has Hunt made it up with Gracie Jones? It's time for him. He has been hanging after her long enough."
"Oh, sister, I am not alluding to anything plebeian."
"Well, my dear Maria, I'd be glad to know once for all to what you are alluding, for, to be frank with you, I think your brain is going fast."
"It's Bee," said Miss Maria. "It's our Bee. She's engaged. It's all settled."
"Beatrice engaged? I don't believe a word of it."
"It's true. Hunt said there wasn't a doubt of it, and he ought to know, for he takes bread—"
"You needn't go on about the bread. To whom is Beatrice Meadowsweet affianced?"
"To no less a person, Martha, than Captain Bertram, and there they are in a boat by themselves on the water."
Mrs. Butler snatched up the spy-glass again, and after considerable difficulty, and some mutterings, focussed it so as to suit her sight. She was absolutely silent, as she gazed her fill at the unconscious occupants of the green boat.