'Nance,' she said, 'don't mind me asking, but - this friend: it is a girl, ain't it?'
I snorted. 'Oh, Mrs Milne! Did you really think - ? Did you really think that I would - ?' That I would set up house with a man, was what she meant: me, with my trousers and my bar-bered hair! She blushed.
'I just thought,' she said. 'A girl can get herself hooked up by a feller, these days, quicker'n that. And what with you moving out so sudden, I was half convinced you'd let some gentleman or other make you a pile of promises. I should've known better.'
My laughter rang a little hollowly then, as I thought of how near her thoughts ran to the truth, while yet remaining so far from it.