"Not a great deal," interrupted Seth. "I've a notion that those that have ties of affection enjoy more and suffer more than those that haven't. Now, I've been a selfish creature all my life, and it's only lately that I may say I've had ties that have made me care for much outside myself. Put it another way. Say that I'm a hedgehog, and the Duchess is an angel. Here's the coach. Goodbye, and good luck to you."
"You've heard nothing of my poor boy Ned, I suppose?"
"Nothing."
"No more have I," said Mrs. Chester' with a sigh. "My poor boy! My poor boy!" And the mother's heart went out across the seas to the reprobate. As she was stepping into the coach she said, "When the Duchess gets better it'd be a fine thing if you could take her into the country for a day, and perhaps Sally could go along with her. You've no idea what good a mouthful of free air can do, especially to children who get but little of it."
"Seth Dumbrick," said Seth to himself, as he walked home, "you're coming to something. You go on like this, and in time you won't know yourself. To think that you, who never had a sweetheart, should be taken in as you're being taken in by a parcel of women and children who are no more bone of your bone or flesh of your flesh than that donkey is. Stop a bit though. Some wiseacres have set it down in black and white that men and donkeys are shoots off one tree. Perhaps that accounts for it."
Now that the Duchess was in a fair way of recovery, and could do nothing to amuse herself, she drew upon Seth's resources for the agreeable passing away of the idle hours, and he, with his Bible on his knee, would relate to her in a familiar way such stories as he thought would best please her. Deeming Solomon a tempting theme, he related the history of that wise king with a curious mingling of fact and fancy and shrewd observation. The story of Solomon's life and deeds seemed to possess a peculiar fascination for the Duchess, and she bound Seth to it for three consecutive nights.
"That was a grand place King Solomon built," said the Duchess. "Where is it?"
"Nowhere; it was destroyed, and I'm told the Jews go into mourning every year because of its destruction."
"Does that do any good?" said the Duchess.
"Not a bit."