"It has," replied Seth, not unwilling to use the arrow placed in his hands, "in many instances--thanks to the law."
The lady looked at the gentleman for information.
"Such things have been," he said, "but not where flesh and blood are concerned."
"And here it is concerned," she exclaimed, with vivacity.
"Nonsense. What whim of yours shall I have to fight against next?"
"Of course, when I say I would like to buy the child, I am aware I am talking nonsense; but perhaps it is not in your legal mind to make allowances. I am singularly curious to learn what I can of the pretty creature's history--if she has one."
"The commonest of us has a history worth reading--but not, I doubt, until the actor begins to play a conscious part in the drama of life."
"Now you are speaking in a way I like. Let me, then, have my way, and ask the gipsy to tell the child's fortune."
"Come," he said to the gipsy, "earn your money. We have already lingered too long."
Seth Dumbrick, who had been listening with impatience to this dialogue, stepped between the gipsy and the Duchess.