H. "A man of sense, eh? The sinister hypocrite! He only
wore the caps and bells to allure unguarded beauty, and doffed them
when he donned the wedding-suit."
Mrs. B. "Yes. But these are reminiscences so sweet that I shall
be glad to return from them to your little affair. Seriously, then,
Mr. Talboys is not to be overlooked, for this reason: he is well
backed."
"By whom?"
"By some one who has influence with Lucy--her nearest relation, Mr.
Fountain."
"What! is he nearer to her than you are?"
"Certainly; and she is fond of him to infatuation. One day I did but
hint that selfishness entered into his character (he is eaten up with
it), and that he told fibs; Mr. Hardie, she turned round on me like a
tigress--Oh, how she made me cry!"
The keen hand, Hardie, smiled satirically, and after a pause answered
with consummate coolness: "I believe thus much, that she loves her
uncle, and that his influence, exerted unscrupulously--"
"Which it will be. He may be strong enough to spoil us, even though
he should not be able to carry his own point; now trust me, my dear
friend, Lucy's preference is clearly for you, but I know the weakness
of my own sex, and, above all, I know Lucy Fountain. A mouse can help
a lion in a matter of small threads, too small for his nobler and
grander wisdom to see. Let me be your mouse for once." The little
woman caught the great man with the everlasting hook, and the
discussion ended in "claw me and I will claw thee," and in the mutual
self-complacency that follows that arrangement.
Pages:
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325