It was interesting to the verge of distraction when they talked merely of Warwick Hall and the schoolgirls, or recalled various things that had happened at the first house-party.

But when they discussed the approaching wedding, the guests, the gifts, the decorations, and the feast, she almost held her breath in her eager enjoyment of it.
Several times a day, after the passing of the trains, Alec came up from the station with express packages.

Most of them were wedding presents, which the bridesmaids pounced upon and carried away to the green room to await Eugenia's arrival.

Every package was the occasion of much guessing and pinching and wondering, and the mystery was almost as exciting as the opening would have been.
The conversation often led into by-paths that were unexplored regions to the small listener in the background among the window-seat cushions: husbands and lovers and engagements, all the thrilling topics that a wedding in the family naturally suggests.

Sometimes a whole morning would go by without her uttering a word, and Mrs.Sherman, who had heard what a talkative child she was, noticed her silence.