Pagina 446 van 896

"Then, I think," said Mr. Lorry, "that I was very unhandsomely

dealt with, and that I ought to have had a voice in the selection

of my pattern. Enough! Now, my dear Lucie," drawing his arm

soothingly round her waist, "I hear them moving in the next room,

and Miss Pross and I, as two formal folks of business, are

anxious not to lose the final opportunity of saying something to

you that you wish to hear. You leave your good father, my dear,

in hands as earnest and as loving as your own; he shall be taken

every conceivable care of; during the next fortnight, while you

are in Warwickshire and thereabouts, even Tellson's shall go to

the wall (comparatively speaking) before him. And when, at the

fortnight's end, he comes to join you and your beloved husband,

on your other fortnight's trip in Wales, you shall say that we

have sent him to you in the best health and in the happiest

frame. Now, I hear Somebody's step coming to the door.