'You see, what I told you was right. Your appearance has been described to them; they suspect something, and will never cease worrying until they have found out everything. I'm not a bit surprised. Ethel always was the more cunning and the more spiteful of the two.'
Mrs Shepherd did not tell him how nearly she had been betrayed into confession. She felt that he would not understand her explanation of the mood in which his sister had caught her. Men understand women so little. To tell him would be merely to destroy his confidence in her. As they drove through the twilight, with Nellie fast asleep between, he spoke of her departure, which he had arranged for the end of the week, and then, putting his arm round her waist, he said: 'You have always been a good little woman to me.'
Walter Besant
THE SOLID GOLD REEF COMPANY, LIMITED
(In Deacon's Orders and Other Stories, New York: Harper and Bros., 1895)
Act I
'You dear old boy,' said the girl, 'I am sure I wish it could be, with all my heart, if I have any heart.'
'I don't believe you have,' replied the boy gloomily.
'Well, but, Reg, consider; you've got no money.'
'I've got five thousand pounds. If a man can't make his way upon that he must be a poor stick.'