"
"Thanky, dear, you'r welcome to my 'pinion ef it's wuth any thing.
Be these folks you tell of young?" asked Mrs. Wilkins, with evident
relish for the mystery.
"No, the woman is past thirty, and the man 'most forty, I believe,"
said Christie, darning away in some trepidation at having taken the
first plunge.
"My patience! ain't the creater old enough to know her own mind? for
I s'pose she's the one in the quanderry?" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkins,
looking over her spectacles with dangerously keen eyes.
"The case is this," said Christie, in guilty haste. "The 'creature'
is poor and nobody, the man rich and of good family, so you see it's
rather hard for her to decide."
"No, I don't see nothin' of the sort," returned blunt Mrs. Wilkins.
"Ef she loves the man, take him: ef she don't, give him the mittin
and done with it. Money and friends and family ain't much to do with
the matter accordin' to my view. It's jest a plain question betwixt
them two. Ef it takes much settlin' they 'd better let it alone."
"She doesn't love him as much as she might, I fancy, but she is
tired of grubbing along alone. He is very fond of her, and very
rich; and it would be a fine thing for her in a worldly way, I'm
sure.
Pages:
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382