Miss De Voe had cut down her social duties for the ten days Peter was there, giving far more time for them to kill than usually fell to Newporters even in those comparitively simple days.
In one of these talks, Miss De Voe spoke of Dorothy.
"She is such a nice, sweet girl," she said.

"We all hope she'll marry Lispenard." "Do you think cousins ought to marry ?" Miss De Voe had looked at Peter when she made her remark.

Peter had replied quietly, but his question, as Miss De Voe understood it, was purely scientific, not personal.

Miss De Voe replied: "I suppose it is not right, but it is so much better than what may happen, that it really seems best.

It is so hard for a girl in Dorothy's position to marry as we should altogether wish." "Why ?" asked Peter, who did not see that a girl with prospective wealth, fine social position, and personal charm, was not necessarily well situated to get the right kind of a husband.
"It is hard to make it clear--but--I'll tell you my own story, so that you can understand.