I'd rather have him than an old
stick like Jessie's General."
"Yes, if all were settled, I believe your mother would be very well
pleased. The question is, whether it is using her fairly not to let
her know in the meantime?"
"Well, what is the code among you parents and guardians?"
"I don't know that there is any, but I think that though the crisis
might be pleasing enough, yet if your mother found out what was going
on, she might be vexed at not having been informed."
John considered a moment, and then proposed that if things looked
"like it" at the end of the week, he should go down on Saturday and
give a hint of preparation to his father, letting him understand the
merits of the case. However, in the existing state of affairs, a
week was a long time, and that very Sunday brought the crisis.
The recollection of former London Sundays, of Mary Ogilvie's quiet
protests, and of the effect on her two eldest children, had
strengthened Mrs. Brownlow's resolution to make it impossible to fill
the afternoon with aimless visiting and gossiping; and plenty of
other occupations had sprung up.
Thus on this particular afternoon she and Barbara were with their
Girls' Friendly Society Classes, of which Babie took the clever one,
and she the stupid.
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