"You both find gratitude inconvenient!"
Bobbie turned and bowed. "I do!" he said, "inconvenient, and
intolerable! Hullo!--I hear the carriage. I beg you to remark that what
I told you was confidential. It is not to be repeated in company."
Lady Niton had only time to give him a fierce look when the door opened,
and Lady Lucy came wearily in.
Bobbie hastened to meet her.
"My dear Lady Lucy!--what news?"
"Oliver is in!"
"Hurrah!" Bobbie shook her hand vehemently. "I am glad!"
Lady Niton, controlling herself with difficulty, rose from her seat, and
also offered a hand.
"There, you see, Lucy, you needn't have been so anxious."
Lady Lucy sank into a chair.
"What's the majority?" said Bobbie, astonished by her appearance and
manner. "I say, you know, you've been working too hard."
"The majority is twenty-four," said Lady Lucy, coldly, as though she had
rather not have been asked the question; and at the same time, leaning
heavily back in her chair, she began feebly to untie the lace strings of
her bonnet. Bobbie was shocked by her appearance. She had aged rapidly
since he had last seen her, and, in particular, a gray shadow had
overspread the pink-and-white complexion which had so long preserved her
good looks.
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