“Idon’tthinkitwouldbeniceintheleast。”saidMrs。March，“andifyoudon’twanttotalkseriously，Iwouldrathernottalkatall。”
“Well，then，let’stalkaboutourSilverWeddingJourney。”
“Isee。YoumerelywanttoteaseandIamnotinthehumorforit。”
Shesaidthisinagreatmanydifferentways，andthenshewasreallysilent。Heperceivedthatshewashurt；andhetriedtowinherbacktogood-humor。HeaskedherifshewouldnotliketogoovertoHobokenandlookatoneoftheHanseaticLeaguesteamers，someday；andsherefused。
Whenhesentthenextdayandgotapermittoseetheboat；sheconsentedtogo。