'Oh, it wouldn't do for me to tell that,' said Charley. 'That must be left to the tact and intelligence of my readers.'
'Oh, very well,' said Mrs. Woodward, 'we will abstain from all impertinent questions'—'from the distinguished pen of Sir G— H—. The ditty which she sang ran as follows:—
My heart's at my office, my heart is always there—
My heart's at my office, docketing with care;
Docketing the papers, and copying all day,
My heart's at my office, though I be far away.
"'Ah me!' said the Lady Crinoline—"
'What—is she a peer's daughter?' said Uncle Bat.
'Not exactly,' said Charley, 'it's only a sort of semi-poetic way one has of speaking of one's heroine.'
"'Ah me!' said the Lady Crinoline—'his heart! his heart!—I wonder whether he has got a heart;' and then she sang again in low plaintive voice the first line of the song, suiting the cadence to her own case:—
His heart is at his office, his heart is always there.
"'It was evident that the Lady Crinoline did not repeat the words in the feeling of their great author, who when he wrote them had intended to excite to high deeds of exalted merit that portion of the British youth which is employed in the Civil Service of the country.
"Crinoline laid down her lute—it was in fact an accordion—and gazing listlessly over the rails of the balcony, looked out at the green foliage which adorned the enclosure of the square below.