'Then we shall do well to think how we can prevent it. If we could have somebody here to take up his attention at least'—
'Preoccupy the ground,' said Mr. Dallas. 'The colonel would say that is good strategy.'
'I do not mean strategy,' said Mrs. Dallas. 'I want Pitt to fancy a woman proper for him, in every respect.'
'Exactly. Have you one in your eye? Here in America it is difficult.'
'I was thinking of Betty Frere.'
'Humph! If she could catch him,—she might do.'
'She has no money; but she has family, and beauty.'
'You understand these things better than I do,' said Mr. Dallas, half amused, half sharing his wife's anxiety. 'Would she make a comfortable daughter-in-law for you?'
'That is secondary,' said Mrs. Dallas, still with a raised brow, knitting her scarlet and blue with out knowing what colour went through her fingers. Perhaps her husband's tone had implied doubt.
'If she can catch him,' Mr. Dallas repeated. 'There is no calculating on these things. Cupid's arrows fly wild—for the most part.'