"You go into the parlor," said she sharply, "an' don't you let 'em know you didn't know about it.

You act kind of easy an' natural when they speak about it.

You go right in; tea won't be ready quite yet.

I've got something a little extra to see about." Francis went into the parlor and greeted the guests, shaking hands with them rather boyishly and awkwardly.

The minister's wife made room for him on the sofa beside her.
"I suppose you'd like to hear about your cousin's wedding that I went to this afternoon," said she, with a blandness that had a covert meaning to the other women, who listened eagerly.
"Yes, I would," replied Francis, with steady gravity.
"I suppose it wasn't such a surprise to you as it was to us ?" said she directly, and the other women panted.
"No, I suppose it wasn't," said Francis.
Mrs.Lowe and Mrs.Robbins glanced at each other.
"_He_ knew," Mrs.Lowe motioned with her lips, nodding.
"_She_ didn't," Mrs.Robbins motioned back, shaking her head.
Francis sat beside the minister's wife.