"Poor young lady! I hear the Captain's back at the Warren, sir."
"What?"
"Captain Ripley, sir. Back at home."
"Oh!"
The Mayor was bursting with suppressed gossip on this point also, but the atmosphere was most repressive. He looked round in despair for another opening, and his eye fell on Arthur Angell.
"Seen the Chronicle, sir?" he asked. "That Mingley's a sharp young chap. Still I don't 'old—hold with all that talk about people. Did you say you'd seen it, sir?"
"Yes, I've seen it. It's mostly lies."
"He, he!" chuckled the Mayor. "You're right, sir."
A long pause ensued before the Mayor very reluctantly took his hat.