As soon as the divorce was made absolute they would be married.

She had quarreled with her best friend, who had tried to make mischief between them with a view to securing Mordaunt for herself.

Had Septimus ever heard of such a cat?
Septimus hadn't.
He was greatly interested in as much of the story as he could follow--Emmy was somewhat discursive--and as his interjectory remarks were unprovocative of argument, he constituted himself a good listener.

Besides, romance had never come his way.

It was new to him, even Emmy's commonplace little romance, like a field of roses to a town-bred child, and it seemed sweet and gracious, a thing to dream about.