"Who?"
"Colonel Jonathan Stubbs."
"Impossible! It can't be Colonel Stubbs. I know Colonel Stubbs."
"I can assure you it is true, Tom. I have had a letter from a lady,—a relative of Colonel Stubbs,—telling me the whole story."
"Colonel Stubbs!" he said. "That passes anything I ever heard. She has refused him?"
"Yes, she has refused him."
"And has not accepted him since?"
"She certainly has not accepted him yet."
"You may give her the bracelet all the same," said Tom, hurrying out of the room. That Colonel Stubbs should have made an offer to Ayala, and yet have accepted his, Tom Tringle's, confidence!