"'And what's there to be reticent about, ma'am?' she asked."
"Now this is a secret and you mustn't tell anybody."
"Rest assured that I won't tell that secret to anybody, dear. I have no desire to figure as a female Rip Van Winkle. That secret is at least three weeks old."
Women talk among themselves about other people. Men talk to other people about themselves.
If you want to know a woman
Who can play a game of tag
With Truth until it's spent beyond repair,