He perceived that his Aunt Amelia was indeed an old cat, and that to give her scandalous meanderings another thought would be the height of folly.
By no means unsusceptible to such pathos as that now exposed before him, he did not lack pity for Fanny, whose almost spoken confession was lamentable; and he was granted the vision to understand that his mother also pitied Fanny infinitely more than he did.

This seemed to explain everything.
He patted the unhappy lady awkwardly upon her shoulder.

"There, there!" he said.

"I didn't mean anything.

Of course the only thing to do about Aunt Amelia is to pay no attention to her.