’Butnevermindthat。EverybodyknowsthatMariaClutterbuckwasverymuchadmired。OfcourseI’mnotgoingtotellyouoranyothergentlemanallherhistory。’
’Iwasinhopesyouwere。’
’Thencertainlyyourhopeswillbefrustrated，MrEames。ButundoubtedlywhenshetoldusthatshewasgoingtotakeDobbsBroughton，wewerealittledisappointed。MariaClutterbuckhadbeenusedtoabetterkindoflife。YouunderstandwhatImean，MrEames？’
’Oh，exactly；——andyetit’snotabadkindoflife，either。’
’No，no；thatistrue。Ithasitsattractions。Shekeepshercarriage，seesagooddealofcompany，hasanexcellenthouse，andgoesabroadforsixweekseveryyear。Butyouknow，MrEames，thereis，perhaps，alittleuncertaintyaboutit。’