"Yes, you. Mr. Boncassen told me that you and he were so deeply taken up with each other at his house, that nobody could get a word with either of you."
"Have you seen Mr. Boncassen?" asked the son, whose attention was immediately diverted from his father's political badinage.
"Yes;—I have seen him. I happened to meet him where I was dining last Sunday, and he walked home with me. He was so intent upon what he was saying that I fear he allowed me to take him out of his way."
"What was he talking about?" said Silverbridge. All his preparations, all his eloquence, all his method, now seemed to have departed from him.
"He was talking about you," said the Duke.
"He had told me that he wanted to see you. What did he say, sir?"
"I suppose you can guess what he said. He wished to know what I thought of the offer you have made to his daughter." The great subject had come up so easily, so readily, that he was almost aghast when he found himself in the middle of it. And yet he must speak of the matter, and that at once.
"I hope you raised no objection, sir," he said.
"The objection came mainly from him; and I am bound to say that every word that fell from him was spoken with wisdom."
"But still he asked you to consent."