George stepped in front of his mother.
"Now you look here," he said.

"I know every nasty thing your mind has conjured up that you'd LIKE to say, and have other folks say, about Kate.

And I know as well as if you were honest enough to tell me, that you haven't been able to root out one living soul who would say a single word against her.

Swallow your secret! Swallow your suspicions! Swallow your venom, and forget all of them.

Kate is as fine a woman as God ever made, and anybody who has common sense knows it.