"I have always felt that he was a man with a hidden—something. I have wondered about it," she said, recovering herself.
"Most women wonder at single men, and they wonder still more when they are married," said mother.
"Who," I asked, laughing, "the women or the men?"
"Oh, the women!"
She spoke with an earnestness that recalled Peter and his blackberrying to my mind, and I laughed again.
"Men," said Nanty, "are necessary for the continuation of the race. I cannot see that they are of any other use in the world."
"Now I am waiting for your opinion, Marguerite," said Jane with a twinkle. "I should like to have no illusions about man before I marry him."
"I am not to be drawn," I returned. "There are men and men. The two looking for squirrels at the moment are extreme types. Perhaps there is something half-way between, and you may be fairly fortunate."
Jane smiled with a satisfied air.
"You have not congratulated me," she said to Nanty. "It is usual, I think."