le. Engagements are supposed to be very joyous, though I
think they're rather exciting and restless times, as a general thing. If
they've settled down to being merely engaged, I've no doubt they've
decided to make the best of being merely engaged as long as her mother
lives."

"There is that view of it," I assented.

XII.

By the following autumn Glendenning had completed the seventh year of
his engagement to Miss Bentley, and I reminded my wife that this seemed
to be the scriptural length of a betrothal, as typified in the service
which Jacob rendered for Rachel. "But _he_ had a prospective
father-in-law to deal with," I added, "and Glendenning a mother-in-law.
That may make a difference."

Mrs. March did not join me in the humorous view of the affair which I
took. She asked me if I had heard anything from Glendenning lately; if
that were the reason why I mentioned him.

"No," I said; "but I have some office business that will take me to
Gormanville to-morrow, and I did not know but you might like to go too,
and look the ground over, and see how much we have been suffering for
them unnecessarily." The fact was that we had now scarcely spoken of
Glendenning or the Bentleys for six months, and our minds were far too
full of our own affairs to be given more than very superficially to
theirs at any time. "We could both go as well as not," I suggested, "and
you could call upon the Bentleys while I looked after the company's
business."

"Thank you, Basil, I think I will let you go alone," said my wife. "But
try to find out how it is with them. Don't be so terribly
straightforward, and let it look as if that was what you came for. Don't
make the slightest advance towards their confidence. But do let them
open up if they will."

"My dear, you may depend upon my asking no leading questions whatever,
and I shall behave with far more discretion than if you were with me.
The danger is that I shall behave with too much, for I find that my
interest in their affair is very much faded. There is every probability
that unless Glendenning speaks of his engagement it won't be spoken of
at all."

This was putting it rather with the indifference of the past six months
than with the feeling of the present moment. Since I had known that I
was going to Gormanville, the interest I denied had renewed itself
pretty vividly for me, and I was intending not only to get everything
out of Glendenning that I decently could, but to give him