`` It 's news to me , '' he said tolerantly . Eben grinned broadly . `` Ah , you ca n't bluff it off like that , Tom , '' he said . `` The news came too straight this time . Well , I was glad to hear it , although I was mighty surprised . I never thought of you and Adelia . But she 's a fine little woman and will make you a capital wife . '' Young Thomas grunted and drove away . He had a good deal of business to do that day , involving calls at various places -- the store for molasses , the mill for flour , Jim Bentley 's for seed grain , the doctor 's for toothache drops for his housekeeper , the post office for mail -- and at each and every place he was joked about his approaching marriage . In the end it rather annoyed Young Thomas , He drove home at last in what was for him something of a temper . How on earth had that fool story started ? With such detailed circumstantiality of rugs and quilts , too ? Adelia Williams must be going to marry somebody , and the Valley View gossips , unable to locate the man , had guessed Young Thomas . When he reached home , tired , mud-bespattered , and hungry , his housekeeper , who was also his hired man 's wife , asked him if it was true that he was going to be married . Young Thomas , taking in at a glance the ill-prepared , half-cold supper on the table , felt more annoyed than ever , and said it was n't , with a strong expression -- not quite an oath -- for Young Thomas never swore , unless swearing be as much a matter of intonation as of words . Mrs. Dunn sighed , patted her swelled face , and said she was sorry ; she had hoped it was true , for her man had decided to go west . They were to go in a month 's time . Young Thomas sat down to his supper with the prospect of having to look up another housekeeper and hired man before planting to destroy his appetite . Next day , three people who came to see Young Thomas on business congratulated him on his approaching marriage . Young Thomas , who had recovered his usual good humour , merely laughed .
There was no use XXXXX being too earnest in denial , he thought .
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