"No, no, indeed," he protested.
She believed him. Strangely she reposed such confidence in the man that she felt she could sit and talk with him forever.
"But it is certainly too bad that you have been so unfortunate. I am sure it will not always be so. You are perseverant, I see, and 'riches come to him who waits.'"
"An old saying, but I hope it will not wait too long. Papa is getting old, and—my brothers would be unable to manage with any effect alone...." He understood her and the incident was overlooked.
"Your mother is dead?"
"Yes, my mother is dead, Mr. Baptiste."
"Oh."
"Died when I was a baby."
"Well, well...."
"I never knew her."