"I really mean no! You may consider that the honour is declined."
"And pray, why did you encourage me, and pretend you were fond of me, eh?"
"You must be out of your senses to say so."
"Not a bit of it! You did encourage me, flirting and arguing, and making sharp speeches just to attract my notice and draw me on; why any one could see it with half an eye!"
At this amazing statement the little remnant of the lady's temper completely gave way, and halting in the road, and turning to him with blazing eyes, she said,—
"Mr. Barry Sheridan, a few plain truths shall be spoken to you for once in your life. I would not marry you if you were a king. You are rude; you are ignorant."
"No, I'm not," he interrupted furiously.
"Yes, you are," she continued inflexibly. "Only last night I heard you pointing out the constellation of O'Brien's belt! and you cannot spell two words; you are ignorant and boorish. This may be your misfortune, not your fault; but it is your fault that you are selfish and overbearing, and as vain as the frog in the fable. You imagine, you poor blind ostrich," mixing her metaphors in the heat of her irritation, "that any one of the girls in the county would marry you! If you asked them, they would laugh in your face.—If you do not believe me, you can make the experiment, that's all.—You will have to improve very much indeed, before you may aspire to the hand of any lady, however penniless." So saying, she lightly hitched herself up on the cart, gave the mule a bang with her stick, and rattled noisily away.
Helen's return was hailed with acclamation; her cousins, who had long been on the look out, met her at the gate, and escorted her to the kitchen, where she poured out her earnings and rendered a faithful account of her dealings to Sally—Sally, who cross-examined her sharply, and was transparently jealous of her success. Indeed, the only poor consolation left Miss MacGravy was, that her deputy had failed with the "sparrow-grass."