“Well, I’m damned sorry,” he said with a sigh.
“I am afraid it is partly Dicky’s fault, Cyril,” she suggested gently.
“How’s that?” he asked. “You haven’t sold her to that young Price, have you, Sue? I couldn’t stand that.”
“I wonder if you will ever understand that marriage is not a question of bargaining and arrangement,” said his wife impatiently. “It is really a pity, I think, that I wasn’t able to provide you with cattle instead of children. You would have understood me far better if I had been a slave or an animal.”
“We might try,” he suggested. “It is not too late to add to your list of female impersonations. But you haven’t answered my question.”
“I forget what it was,” she answered gravely.
“Whether you had bestowed (we will say if you prefer it) Teresa on Joseph Price.”
“I have no reason to suppose that he has asked her to marry him,” said Susie.
“Then we may take it that is all right,” he said with relief. “She would never invite herself. I am always glad to see Mammon spread his net in vain for your sex, Sue. It makes the world so much brighter and better. But what did you mean that Dicky had done?”
“She has refused David; why I don’t know.”