M——Mary                       R——Robert

M:    Does this mean I’ll have to go into full mourning?

R:     My first cousin      and his son are almost certainly dead.    We’ll all be in mourning.

M:    No,  I mean with the other thing.    After all, it wasn’t official.

R:     If you’re saying   you do not wish to mourn Patrick as a fiancee, that is up to you.

M:    Well, no one knew about it outside the family.

R:     I repeat, it’s up to you.

M:    Well, that’s a relief.