Peggy's mouth dropped into a slight O at Rachel's description. There was certainly plenty to be shocked by in what she relayed (squibs in the family! Americans! and terribly personalities to boot!), but the truth was that Peggy would likely have pretended to be scandalized even if Rachel had said nothing more interesting than one time he failed to have a witty comment prepared during a conversation. Bigger reactions were simply more fun (and so was feeling superior to Miss Quibbleberry and her maybe-suitor, though Peg didn't admit that part to herself).
"How do you think she knows him?" Peggy mused — truth be told, she had a slight chip on her shoulder about no gentlemen having swooped in to ask her for the next dance yet, and she was eager to explain Miss Quibbleberry's success in that area away. He could have been a Quibbleberry cousin, for all she knew, and everyone knew that didn't count. How dreadfully embarrassing it would be to tear one's skirt for the sake of a dance that didn't even really count. "I know her mother's been introducing her to an awful lot of people — or at least that's what she says — but surely she's not being introduced to just everyone?" Peggy said. The intonation on the last word carried a clear undertone: surely a mother who cared about making a good match for her daughter, rather than just a match, would not have chosen to introduce her to oblivious Bernard-Benjamin Bellchant, whose family contained both Americans and squibs.
"How do you think she knows him?" Peggy mused — truth be told, she had a slight chip on her shoulder about no gentlemen having swooped in to ask her for the next dance yet, and she was eager to explain Miss Quibbleberry's success in that area away. He could have been a Quibbleberry cousin, for all she knew, and everyone knew that didn't count. How dreadfully embarrassing it would be to tear one's skirt for the sake of a dance that didn't even really count. "I know her mother's been introducing her to an awful lot of people — or at least that's what she says — but surely she's not being introduced to just everyone?" Peggy said. The intonation on the last word carried a clear undertone: surely a mother who cared about making a good match for her daughter, rather than just a match, would not have chosen to introduce her to oblivious Bernard-Benjamin Bellchant, whose family contained both Americans and squibs.
