there, stood with her back to it, facing her daughter and looking
at her cheerfully. "Nonsense, my dear! It was perfectly clear
that she was mentioned by accident, and so was her father. What
an extraordinary man! If Arthur makes friends with people like
that, he certainly knows better than to expect to hear favourable
opinions of them. Besides, it's only a little passing thing with
him."

"Mama! When he goes there almost every----"

"Yes," Mrs. Palmer said, dryly. "It seems to me I've heard
somewhere that other young men have gone there 'almost every!'
She doesn't last, apparently. Arthur's gallant, and he's
impressionable--but he's fastidious, and fastidiousness is
always the check on impressionableness. A girl belongs to her
family, too--and this one does especially, it strikes me!
Arthur's very sensible; he sees more than you'd think."

Mildred looked at her hopefully. "Then you don't believe he's
likely to imagine we said those things of her in any meaning
way?"

At this, Mrs. Palmer laughed again. "There's one thing you seem
not to have noticed, Mildred."

"What's that?"

"It seems to have escaped your attention that he never said a
word."