n, disguised in worsted-work,
behind her, went on as follows: "I have come, Mrs. Harold, about this
reported engagement between our little Garda and your cousin Mr.
Winthrop" (Winthrop and Margaret had ceased to disclaim this
relationship which Gracias had made up its mind to establish between
them). "When Middleton returned from here yesterday, he told me what Mr.
Winthrop had said--when they first reached here, you know--and we talked
it over. Middleton was pleased, of course" (Penelope _had_ known,
then)--"I mean with the general idea; as he has the highest esteem for
your cousin. But while we were still talking about it--for anything that
so nearly touches Garda touches us too--we thought of something, which,
I confess, troubled us. Edgarda is lovely, but Edgarda is a child, or
nearly so; what is more, we remember that your cousin has always treated
her as one. Now a man doesn't care for a child, Mrs. Harold, in the way
he cares for a wife, and Middleton and I are both firmly of the opinion
that only a love that is inevitable, overwhelming" (Penelope emphasized
these adjectives with her black-gloved forefinger), "should be the
foundation of a marriage. Look at us; _we_ are examples of this. I
couldn't have lived without Middleton; Middleton couldn't have lived
without me--I mean after we had become aware of the state of our
feelings towards each other. And we both think this should be the test:
can he _live_ without her?--can she _live_ without him? If they can,
either of them, they had better not marry. Of course, as to what may
happen _afterwards_" (Penelope had suddenly remembered to whom she was
talking), "that is another matter; things may occur; we may not be
responsible for differences. But, as a _beginning_, this overmastering
love is, we are convinced, the only real foundation. Now, does your
cousin care for Garda in this way? That is what we ask. And if he does
not, is there any reason that could have influenced him in making such
an engagement? At this point of our conversation, Middleton repeated to
me a remark of Dr. Kirby's--which I will not particularize further than
to say that it contained the _Kirbyly_ coined word--_oatmealish_. But it
was that very epithet that made us think that he had the--the _worldly_
idea that what had happened would cause remark in Gracias, unless it
could be said, by authority, that the two persons concerned were
formally engaged to each other. Now, Mrs. Harold, that is a com