Page:The Other House (London, William Heinemann, 1896), Volume 1.djvu/152

138 "I mean it," said Mrs. Beever, "in a sense I think you don't know." She looked at him a moment; but either her profundity or his caution were too great, and he waited for her to commit herself further. That was a thing she could always do rapidly without doing it recklessly. "I asked her exactly on account of Jean."

The Doctor meditated, but this seemed to deepen her depth. "I give it up. You've mostly struck me as so afraid of every other girl Paul looks at."

Mrs. Beever's face was grave. "Yes, I've always been; but I'm not so afraid of them as of those at whom Tony looks."

Her interlocutor started. "He's looking at Jean?"

Mrs. Beever was silent a little. "Not for the first time!"

Her visitor also hesitated. "And do you think, Miss Armiger?"

Mrs. Beever took him up. "Miss Armiger's better for him—since he must have somebody!"

"You consider she'd marry him?"

"She's insanely in love with him."

The Doctor tilted up his chin; he uttered an