Morris, indeed, needed all the satisfaction that
stewed oysters could give him, for it may be intimated to the reader
that he regarded Mrs. Penniman in the light of a fifth wheel to his
coach. He was in a state of irritation natural to a gentleman of
fine parts who had been snubbed in a benevolent attempt to confer a
distinction upon a young woman of inferior characteristics, and the
insinuating sympathy of this somewhat desiccated matron appeared to
offer him no practical relief. He thought her a humbug, and he
judged of humbugs with a good deal of confidence. He had listened
and made himself agreeable to her at first, in order to get a footing
in Washington Square; and at present he needed all his self-command
to be decently civil. It would have gratified him to tell her that
she was a fantastic old woman, and that he should like to put her
into an omnibus and send her home. We know, however, that Morris
possessed the virtue of self-control, and he had, moreover, the
constant habit of seeking to be agreeable; so that, although Mrs.
Penniman's demeanour only exasperated his already unquiet nerves, he
listened to her with a sombre deference in which she found much to
admire.
CHAPTER XVI
They had of course immediately spoken of Catherine. "Did she send me
a message, or--or anything?" Morris asked. He appeared to think that
she might have sent him a trinket or a lock of her hair.
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