"You shouldn't have."
"Well, I did. And so when Hugo's letter came it seemed such a wonderful chance of showing you that I didn't care. And now what am I to do? What can I say to Hugo?"
It was a nuisance for John to have to detach his mind from what really mattered in life to trivialities like this absurd business of Hugo, but he supposed the thing, if only to ease Pat's mind, would have to be given a little attention.
"Hugo thinks he's engaged to you?"
"Yes."
"Well, he isn't."
"No."
"Then that," said John, seeing the thing absolutely clearly, "is all we've got to tell him."
"You talk as if it were so simple!"
"So it is. What's hard about it?"