“Oh, it isn’t that. They’ve always had a cousinly affection for each other, and⁠—yes, Tom is in love with her⁠—but what I mean is aside from all that. The real reason that Madeleine flirts with Tom⁠—for she does flirt with him⁠—is to pique Mr. Carleton. There! I’ve said more than I meant to, but you’re too good a friend to let it make any trouble, and, anyway, in a few days they will be married, and then I’m sure it will be all right⁠—I’m sure of it.”

Like many people, Mrs. Markham emphasized by repetition a statement of whose truth she was far from sure.