Your father writ me you had n't much sense , though . He wants me to teach you some , but it 's a thankless business . People would rather be fools . '' Aunt Philippa struck her steed smartly with the whip and controlled his resultant friskiness with admirable skill . `` Well , you know it 's pleasanter , '' I said , wickedly . `` Just think what a doleful world it would be if everybody were sensible . '' Aunt Philippa looked at me out of the corner of her eye and disdained any skirmish of flippant epigram . `` So you want to get married ? '' she said . `` You 'd better wait till you 're grown up . '' `` How old must a person be before she is grown up ? '' I asked gravely . `` Humph ! That depends . Some are grown up when they 're born , and others ai n't grown up when they 're eighty . That same Mrs. Roderick I was speaking of never grew up . She was as foolish when she was a hundred as when she was ten . '' `` Perhaps that 's why she lived so long , '' I suggested . All thought of seeking sympathy in Aunt Philippa had vanished . I resolved I would not even mention Mark 's name .
`` Mebbe 't was , '' admitted Aunt Philippa XXXXX a grim smile . ''
Philippa Roderick as at before if of till to with