Such preference shown by a single gentleman to a single lady would certainly, in ordinary cases, have set in motion the tongues of the gossips; but Cyril Hall was forty-five years old, slightly bald, and slightly gray, and nobody ever said or thought he was likely to be married to Miss Helstone. 
Such preference shown by a single gentleman to a single lady would normally have set the gossips talking; but as Cyril Hall was forty-five, slightly bald, and slightly grey, nobody ever thought he was likely to marry Miss Helstone. 