It was not very reverent to his cloth, or his recent tragical mood, but
Glendenning was not offended; he laughed with a sheepish pleasure, and
that evening he came with Miss Bentley to call upon us. The visit passed
without unusual confidences until they rose to go, when she said
abruptly to me: "I feel that we both owe you a great deal, Mr. March.
Arthur has been telling me of your talk this afternoon, and I think that
what you said was all so wise and true! I don't mean," she added, "your
suggestion about putting an end to the anomaly!" and she and Glendenning
both laughed.
My wife said, "That was very wicked, and I have scolded him for thinking
of such a thing." She had, indeed, forgotten that she had put it in my
head, and made me wholly responsible for it.
"Then you must scold me too a little, Mrs. March," said the girl, "for
I've sometimes wondered if I couldn't work Arthur up to the point of
making me run away with him," which was a joke that wonderfully amused
us all.