I wonder if Admiral Croft is being humorous when he says, “'I had heard of you as a very pretty girl.” It makes sense for Mrs. Croft to say she had known him by character long before as a justification for a brief courtship because it would normally take some time to get to know someone’s character. Deciding whether a girl is pretty or not wouldn’t normally take much time at all. I find it amusing that he would say he had heard of her being pretty ahead of time as if this knowledge contributed to the brevity of their courtship.