Mrs.Dangerfield was surprised; Erebus seldom showed any taste for such a gentle occupation.
Also she was relieved; she did not want Captain Baster to propose before she had taken counsel with her brother.
Captain Baster started in a gloomy frame of mind; he did not try to hide from himself the fact that Mrs.Dangerfield had lost some of her charm: she was the mother of the Terror.

He found, too, that his instinctive distaste for the company of Erebus was not ungrounded.

She was a nuisance; she would talk about wet boots; the subject seemed to fascinate her.

Then, when at last he recovered his spirits, grew once more humorous, and even rose to the proposing point, there was no getting rid of her.

She was impervious to hints; she refused, somewhat pertly, to pause and gather the luscious blackberries.