"I wish my glass told me so."
"Fiddlesticks! Youth is in the heart. Mr. Verinder has never been young and Captain Kilmeny has forgotten how to be."
"I fancy Ned would be willing to learn how again if he had the proper teacher."
She gave his arm a little squeeze. "You dear old matchmaker."
"Heaven forbid! I'm merely inquiring, my dear."
"Oh, I see—your in-loco-parentis duty."
"Exactly. So it isn't going to be Ned?"
She looked across the turbid moonlit river before she answered. "I don't think so."
"Goodness, no!" A little ripple of laughter flowed from her lips before she added: "He's changed his mind. It's Joyce he wants now."