understoodeachother’slanguage；andcertainlyifhesharesmytaste，theirpeculiarityofcomplexionwillonlymakehimappreciatewhiteskinsthemore。’’Butyousaiditwasnoengagement，’growledthesquire。’Ifhethinksbetterofit，youwon’tkeephimtoit，willyou？’’Ifhewishestobreakitoff，IshallcertainlyadviseCynthiatobeequallywilling，that’sallIcansay。AndIseenoreasonfordiscussingtheaffairfurtheratpresent。IhavetoldyouhowmattersstandbecauseIpromisedyouIwould，ifIsawanythingofthiskindgoingon。Butinthepresentconditionofthings，wecanneithermakenormar；wecanonlywait。’Andhetookuphishattogo。Butthesquirewasdiscontent。’Don’tgo，Gibson。Don’ttakeoffenceatwhatI’vesaid，thoughI’msureIdon’tknowwhyyoushould。Whatisthegirllikeinherself？’’Idon’tknowwhatyoumean，’saidMrGibson。Buthedid；onlyhewasvexed，anddidnotchoosetounderstand。’Isshe—well，isshelikeyourMolly？—sweet—temperedandsensible—
withherglovesalwaysmended，andneataboutthefeet，andreadytodoanythingoneasksherjustasifdoingitWastheverythingshelikedbestintheworld？’MrGibson’sfacerelaxednow，andhecouldunderstandallthesquire’sbrokensentencesandunexplainedmeanings。’SheismuchprettierthanMollytobeginwith，andhasverywinningways。
Sheisalwayswell—dressedandsmart—looking，andIknowshehasnotmuchtospendonherclothes，andalwaysdoeswhatsheisaskedtodo，andisreadyenoughwithherpretty，livelyanswers。Idon’tthinkIeversawheroutoftemper；butthenI’mnotsureifshetakesthingskeenlytoheart，andacertainobtusenessoffeelinggoesagreatwaytowardsacharacterforgoodtemper，I’veobserved。AltogetherIthinkCynthiaisoneinahundred。’Thesquiremeditatedalittle。’YourMollyisoneinathousand，tomymind。Butthenyouseeshecomesofnofamilyatall，—andIdon’tsupposeshe’llhaveachanceofmuchmoney。’Thishesaidasifhewerethinkingaloud，andwithoutreferencetoMrGibson，butitnettledthelattergentleman，andherepliedsomewhatimpatiently，—’Well，butasthereisnoquestionofMollyinthisbusiness，Idon’tseetheuseofbringinghernamein，andconsideringeitherherfamilyorherfortune。’’No，tobesurenot，’saidthesquire，rousingup。’Mywitshadgonefarafield，andI’llownIwasonlythinkingwhatapityitwasshewouldnotdoforOsborne。Butofcourseit’soutofthequestion—outofthequestion。’’Yes，’saidMrGibson，’andifyouwillexcuseme，squire，Ireallymustgonow，andthenyou’llbeatlibertytosendyourwitsafielduninterrupted。’
Thistimehewasatthedoorbeforethesquirecalledhimback。Hestoodimpatientlyhittinghistop—bootswithhisriding—whip，waitingfortheinterminablelastwords。’Isay，Gibson，we’reoldfriends，andyou’reafoolifyoutakeanythingIsayasanoffence。MadamyourwifeandIdidnothititofftheonlytimeIeversawher。Iwon’tsayshewassilly，butIthinkoneofuswassilly，anditwasnotme。However，we’llpassthatover。Supposeyoubringher，andthisgirlCynthia（whichisasoutlandishaChristiannameasI’dwishtohear），andlittleMollyoutheretolunchsomeday，—I’mmoreatmyeaseinmyownhouse，—andI’mmoresuretobecivil，too。WeneedsaynothingaboutRoger，—neitherthelassnorme，—andyoukeepyourwife’stonguequiet，ifyoucan。Itwillonlybelikeacomplimenttoyouonyourmarriage，youknow—andnoonemusttakeitforanythingmore。
Mind，noallusionormentionofRoger，andthispieceoffolly。Ishallseethegirlthen，andIcanjudgeherformyself；for，asyousay，thatwillbethebestplan。Osbornewillbehere，too；andhe’salwaysinhiselementtalkingtowomen。Isometimesthinkhe’shalfawomanhimself，hespendssomuchmoneyandissounreasonable。’Thesquirewaspleasedwithhisownspeechandhisownthought，andsmiledalittleashefinishedspeaking。MrGibsonwasbothpleasedandamused；