? ? ? ? 'Surely, surely,' said the Doctor.
? ? ? ? 'You are the best of creatures - no, I beg your pardon!' for the Doctor made a gesture of deprecation, 'I must say before your face, as I always say behind your back, you are the best of creatures; but of course you don't - now do you? - enter into the same pursuits and fancies as Annie?'
? ? ? ? 'No,' said the Doctor, in a sorrowful tone.
? ? ? ? 'No, of course not,' retorted the Old Soldier. 'Take your Dictionary, for example. What a useful work a Dictionary is! What a necessary work! The meanings of words! Without Doctor Johnson, or somebody of that sort, we might have been at this present moment calling an Italian-iron, a bedstead. But we can't expect a Dictionary - especially when it's making - to interest Annie, can we?'
? ? ? ? The Doctor shook his head.
? ? ? ? 'And that's why I so much approve,' said Mrs. Markleham, tapping him on the shoulder with her shut-up fan, 'of your thoughtfulness. It shows that you don't expect, as many elderly people do expect, old heads on young shoulders.
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