“Eh? Who?” said Eustace, excusably puzzled, for they had only just finished talking about alligators. But there had been a pause since his last remark, and Jane’s thoughts had flitted back to the subject that usually occupied them.
“Billie and Bream Mortimer.”
“Oh!” said Eustace. “Yes, I suppose so.”
“She’s a delightful girl.”
“Yes,” said Eustace without much animation.
“And, of course, it’s nice their fathers being so keen on the match. It doesn’t often happen that way.”
“No. People’s people generally want people to marry people people don’t want to marry,” said Eustace, clothing in words a profound truth which from the earliest days of civilisation has deeply affected the youth of every country.
“I suppose your mother has got somebody picked out for you to marry?” said Jane casually.
“Mother doesn’t want me to marry anybody,” said Eustace with gloom. It was another obstacle to his romance.
“What, never?”