"Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair, I do not go; but even if so, you would, I fear, miss me less than your latest fad in the pet quadruped."
"How severe you are, Mr. Buckingham. Are all New York men so, Mrs. Dale?" She sighed, having a penchant for him.
"It's annexation, Mrs. St. Clair," said Mrs. Dale, mischievously.
"Annexation! is Mr. Buckingham going to be married?"
"I believe so." At this juncture Master Noah St. Clair, who had come instead of his father, was interested in other than his plate, while his mother said reproachfully:
"It cannot be true, Mr. Buckingham."
"Mrs. Dale is disposed to be facetious, Mrs. St. Clair; you must not swear by everything she says."
"That is an evasive answer, and I am dying to know; tell me, dear Mrs. Dale, what it means?"
"Which, annexation, or Mr. Buckingham?" said her tormentor.
"Oh, both, of course," she said, breathlessly.