The very first person she met was John himself, who had come in by the back way.

He laughed at her orange-blossom bouquet, and said that it was most appropriate, then proceeded to embrace her tenderly in the passage; and indeed he would have been a poor sort of lover if he had not.

It was exactly at this juncture that old Silas Croft happened to open the sitting-room door and became the spectator of this surprising and attractive tableau.
"Well, I never!" said the old gentleman.

"What is the meaning of all this, Bessie ?" Of course there was nothing for it but to advance and explain the facts of the case, which John did with much humming and ha-ing and a general awkwardness of manner that baffles description, while Bessie stood by, her hand upon her lover's shoulder, blushing as red as any rose.
Mr.Croft listened in silence till John had finished, a smile upon his face and a kindly twinkle in his keen eyes.
"So," he said, "that is what you young people have been after, is it?
I suppose that you want to enlarge your interests in the farm, eh, John?
Well, upon my word, I don't blame you; you might have gone farther and fared worse.

These sort of things never come singly, it seems.