"Then what the d—— is it?"
"Sir Lionel, sir, has made me—"
"Made you what? Put your name to a bill, I suppose."
"No; indeed he has not. Nothing of that kind."
"Then what has he made you do?"
"He has not made me do anything; but he has sent me—an—an offer of marriage." And poor Miss Baker, with her blue nose, looked up so innocently, so imploringly, so trustingly, that any one but Mr. Bertram would have comforted her.
"An offer of marriage from Sir Lionel!" said he.
"Yes," said Miss Baker, timidly. "Here it is; and I have come up to consult you about the answer." Mr. Bertram now did take the letter, and did read it through.
"Well!" he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head gently. "Well!"
"I thought it better to do nothing without seeing you. And that is what has brought me to Hadley in such a hurry."