"
"I'm sure," said Mrs. Fisher benignly, "you have no thoughts we
may not hear."
"I'm sure," said Briggs, "I would be telling you every one of my
secrets in a week."
"You would be telling somebody very safe, then," said Mrs. Fisher
benevolently--just such a son would she have liked to have had. "And
in return," she went on, "I daresay I would tell you mine."
"Ah no," said Mr. Wilkins, adapting himself to this tone of easy
badinage, "I must protest. I really must. I have a prior claim, I am
the older friend. I have known Mrs. Fisher ten days, and you, Briggs,
have not yet known her one. I assert my right to be told her secrets
first. That is," he added, bowing gallantly, "if she has any--which I
beg leave to doubt."
"Oh, haven't I!" exclaimed Mrs. Fisher, thinking of those green
leaves. That she should exclaim at all was surprising, but that she
should do it with gaiety was miraculous. Rose could only watch her in
wonder.
"Then I shall worm them out," said Briggs with equal gaiety.
"They won't need much worming out," said Mrs. Fisher. "My
difficulty is to keep them from bursting out."
It might have been Lotty talking. Mr. Wilkins adjusted the
single eyeglass he carried with him for occasions like this, and
examined Mrs. Fisher carefully.
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