I should not be surprised, and I daresay that he is right.

Any way, a new trouble has risen up between us, the shadow of another woman, poor thing.

Well, shadows melt, and the dead do not come back.

She seems to have been very charming and clever, and I daresay that she fascinated him for a while, but with kindness and patience it will all come right.

Only I do hope that he will not insist upon making me too many confidences." So thought Mary, who by nature was forgiving, gentle, and an optimist; not guessing how sorely her patience as an affianced wife, and her charity as a woman of the world, would be tried within the hour.
From all of which it will be seen that for once the diplomacy of the Colonel had prospered somewhat beyond its deserts.