"No, I should think not. It would be a real charity for some one just to mention it to them."
"It certainly would."
"Suppose you speak to Mr. Larkin about it," said Mrs. Meadows.
"Me? Oh no!" was the reply. "It is none of my business. I never meddle with family affairs. It is their duty to look after their daughter. If they don't, and she rides about with Tom, Dick and Harry on Sundays, they have no one to blame but themselves for the consequences."
Thus their responsibility in the affair was dismissed. It was no business of theirs.
In the mean time the two clerks were laying their plans for carrying off the young ladies, and marrying them secretly.
"Have you sounded Jane on this subject?" asked Sanford of his friend one evening, when the matter had come up for serious discussion.
"I have."
"How does she stand?"
"I think there is no doubt of her. But how is Harriet?"