"Of all the egregious folly I have heard in the course of a long life," she remarked, "I think that takes the palm. How do you suppose any woman in the whole world, or man either, would marry if they looked at marriage like that? Things come gradually."
"Not with me, granny," said Di, promptly. "Either I see them or I don't see them; and at the beginning I always look on to the end, just as one does in a novel to see whether it is worth reading. I can't pretend to myself when I walk in the direction of church bells that I don't know I shall arrive at the church in the end, however pleasant the walk may be."
"You will never marry, so you may as well make up your mind to it," said Mrs. Courtenay, who was already revolving an entirely new idea in her mind, which cast Lord Hemsworth completely into the shade. "If you are so fond of looking at the future, you had better amuse yourself by picturing yourself as a penniless old maid."
"I wish there was something one could be between an old maid and a married woman," said Di. "I think if I had my choice I would be a widow."
Mrs. Courtenay, somewhat propitiated by her new idea, gave her silent but visible laugh, and Di went on—
"What do you think of John Tempest, granny? He is so black that talking of widows reminded me of him."
Mrs. Courtenay sustained a slight nervous shock.
"I had not much conversation with him," she said, stifling a slight yawn. "I am glad to see him back in England. Remind me to ask him next time we have a dinner-party."
"He looks clever," said Di. "Ugly men sometimes do. It is a way they have."
"It does not matter how ugly a man is if he looks like a gentleman."