The idea then naturally suggested itself to Mr.Juxon's mind that she was still mourning for her husband, and that she would probably continue to mourn for him until some one, himself for instance, succeeded in consoling her for so great a loss.
The conclusion startled the squire.

That was not precisely the part he contemplated playing, nor the species of consolation he proposed to offer.

Mrs.Goddard was indeed a charming woman, and the squire liked charming women and delighted in their society.

But Mr.Juxon was a bachelor of more than forty years standing, and he had never regarded marriage as a thing of itself, for himself, desirable.

He immediately thrust the idea from his mind with a mental "_vade retro Satanas_!" and determined that things were very agreeable in their present state, and might go on for ever; that if Mrs.Goddard was unhappy that did not prevent her from talking very pleasantly whenever he saw her, which was nearly every day, and that her griefs were emphatically none of his business.