Beware of the just resentment of a deluded fortune-hunter!"
"I can't say I expected it," said Mrs. Penniman. "And I had a sort
of foolish hope that you would come home without that odious ironical
tone with which you treat the most sacred subjects."
"Don't undervalue irony, it is often of great use. It is not,
however, always necessary, and I will show you how gracefully I can
lay it aside. I should like to know whether you think Morris
Townsend will hang on."
"I will answer you with your own weapons," said Mrs. Penniman. "You
had better wait and see!"
"Do you call such a speech as that one of my own weapons? I never
said anything so rough."
"He will hang on long enough to make you very uncomfortable, then."
"My dear Lavinia," exclaimed the Doctor, "do you call that irony? I
call it pugilism."
Mrs. Penniman, however, in spite of her pugilism, was a good deal
frightened, and she took counsel of her fears. Her brother meanwhile
took counsel, with many reservations, of Mrs. Almond, to whom he was
no less generous than to Lavinia, and a good deal more communicative.
"I suppose she has had him there all the while," he said. "I must
look into the state of my wine! You needn't mind telling me now; I
have already said all I mean to say to her on the subject."
"I believe he was in the house a good deal," Mrs. Almond answered.
"But you must admit that your leaving Lavinia quite alone was a great
change for her, and that it was natural she should want some
society.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201