"I hope she has," said he.
"Of course you do. What is a woman worth without it? Don't be angry, Margaret, but I say a woman is worth nothing without it, and Sir John will agree with me if he knows anything about the matter. But, Margaret, why don't you make him buy something? He can't refuse you if you ask him."
If Miss Mackenzie could thereby have provided for all the negro soldiers' orphans in existence, I do not think that she could at that moment have solicited him to make a purchase.
"Come, Sir John," continued Mrs Mackenzie, "you must buy something of her. What do you say to this paper-knife?"
"How much does the paper-knife cost?" said he, still smiling. It was a large, elaborate, and perhaps, I may say, unwieldy affair, with a great elephant at the end of it.
"Oh! that is terribly dear," said Margaret, "it costs two pounds ten."
Thereupon he put his hand into his pocket, and taking out his purse, gave her a five-pound note.
"We never give change," said Mrs Mackenzie: "do we, Margaret?"
"I'll give him change," said Margaret.
"I'll be extravagant for once," said Sir John, "and let you keep the whole."