And kept askin' me to have more. No, Imogene's right; Hannah'll play
the game, and she'll play it quiet. As for tellin' anybody her brother's
engaged, you needn't worry about that. She'll be the last one to tell."
This prophecy seemed likely to prove true. The next time Thankful met
Hannah the latter greeted her like a long-lost friend. During a long
conversation she mentioned the subject of her brother's engagement but
once and then at the very end of the interview.
"Oh, by the way, Mrs. Thankful," she said, "I do beg your pardon for
carryin' on the way I did at your house t'other night. The news was
pitched out at me so sudden that I was blowed right off my feet, as you
might say. I acted real unlikely, I know; but, you see, Kenelm does mean
so much to me that I couldn't bear to think of givin' him up to anybody
else. When I come to think it over I realized 'twa'n't no more'n I had
ought to have expected. I mustn't be selfish and I ain't goin' to be.
S'long's 'tain't that--that Jezebel of an Abbie Larkin I don't mind so
much. I couldn't stand havin' her in the family--THAT I couldn't stand.
Oh, and if you don't mind, Mrs. Thankful, just don't say nothin' about
the engagin' yet awhile. I shouldn't mind, of course, but Kenelm, he's
set on keepin' it secret for a spell. There! I must run on. I've got to
go up to the store and get a can of that consecrated soup for supper.
Have you tried them soups? They're awful cheap and handy. You just pour
in hot water and there's more'n enough for a meal.
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