"Are you arranging some terrible love affair?
Have you got to reconcile a desperate couple ?" "I wasn't thinking about my work," Ralph replied, rather hastily.

"And, besides, that sort of thing's not in my line," he added, rather grimly.
The morning was fine, and they had still some minutes of leisure to spend.

They had not met for two or three weeks, and Mary had much to say to Ralph; but she was not certain how far he wished for her company.
However, after a turn or two, in which a few facts were communicated, he suggested sitting down, and she took the seat beside him.

The sparrows came fluttering about them, and Ralph produced from his pocket the half of a roll saved from his luncheon.

He threw a few crumbs among them.
"I've never seen sparrows so tame," Mary observed, by way of saying something.
"No," said Ralph.