‘You would find it duller than you think,’ said Forster. ‘I ride here often, and do not think it very amusing.’
To his astonishment Madeline asked, quietly—
‘Does Mrs. Forster ride?’
‘Mrs. Forster?’ he repeated.
‘I mean your wife.’
‘My wife,’ he echoed, in still greater astonishment. ‘I am not married!’
‘How strange!’ exclaimed Madeline, with raised eyebrows. ‘Not married?’
‘Why is it so strange?’ asked Forster, with a laugh.
‘You do not look like an old bachelor—no, I don’t mean that; but there is something in your manner which makes one think of a kind wife, and little children, and home. You are not old, and yet I feel as if I could speak to you so freely, and could tell you anything, as I do my dear guardian. Do you understand?’
‘I think I do—partly,’ answered Forster, not without a certain uneasiness.