“Ha!” thought Wolf. “So that’s how it has worked out! His love for her spirit has been accepted on its own terms; and his inhibition with regard to her body has become a matter of maternal solicitude to her. Ay, what convoluted beings we all are!”

“Go on, my dear,” he said cheerfully. “Let’s have it! Let’s hear everything about it.”

Mattie met his eyes with an equivocal response. He knew she was aware of something hostile to her in his mood. There was a flickering half-second of actual contention between them as their grey eyes encountered. Then she said, turning to Mrs. Otter: “It was a long discussion we had⁠ ⁠… it would be silly to tell it all. I happened to say something about plants having souls inside them⁠ ⁠… no! trees it was⁠ ⁠… and Darnley said that the souls of trees and flowers and everything else weren’t ‘inside’ at all, but on the surface⁠ ⁠… I’m putting it right, aren’t I, Darnley?”