Louisa had not the faintest idea what Nancy was thanking her for , but then she had never been able to fathom Nancy , much as she had always liked her in the old girlhood days that now seemed much further away to Louisa than they did to Nancy . Louisa was separated from them by the fulness of wifehood and motherhood , while Nancy looked back only over the narrow gap that empty years make . `` You have n't changed much yourself , Nancy , '' she said , looking admiringly at Nancy 's trim figure , in the nurse 's uniform she had donned to show Louisa what it was like , her firm , pink-and-white face and the the glossy waves of her golden brown hair . `` You 've held your own wonderfully well . '' `` Have n't I ? '' said Nancy complacently . `` Modern methods of massage and cold cream have kept away the crowsfeet , and fortunately I had the Rogerson complexion to start with . You would n't think I was really thirty-eight , would you ? Thirty-eight ! Twenty years ago I thought anybody who was thirty-eight was a perfect female Methuselah . And now I feel so horribly , ridiculously young , Louisa . Every morning when I get up I have to say solemnly to myself three times , ` You 're an old maid , Nancy Rogerson , ' to tone myself down to anything like a becoming attitude for the day . '' `` I guess you do n't mind being an old maid much , '' said Louisa , shrugging her shoulders . She would not have been an old maid herself for anything ; yet she inconsistently envied Nancy her freedom , her wide life in the world , her unlined brow , and care-free lightness of spirit . `` Oh , but I do mind , '' said Nancy frankly . `` I hate being an old maid . '' `` Why do n't you get married , then ? '' asked Louisa , paying an unconscious tribute to Nancy 's perennial chance by her use of the present tense . Nancy shook her head . `` No , that would n't suit me either .
I do n't want XXXXX be married .
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