“'I am glad that you say so!' cried I, eagerly. 'I am but too happy to catch at anything which may tend to convince me that you would not willingly hurt my feelings.'
“For several minutes neither of us uttered a word; at last I said, 'Should I be asking too much, if I begged Miss Henderson to tell me whether she is dissatisfied with anything I may have done in this contest? There may be matters in which I have been misrepresented; others of which I could make some explanation.'
“'Are you quite satisfied with it yourself, sir?' said she, interrupting me.
“'No,' said I; 'so little am I so, that were it all to do over again, I 'd not embark in it. The whole affair, from beginning to end, is a false position.'
“'Ignoble associates—low companionships—very underbred acquaintances,' said she, in a tone of scorn that seemed far more directed at me than the others. I believe I showed how I felt it. I know that my cheek was on fire for some seconds after.
“'The Martins, I take it, are outrageous with me?' said I, at last.
“'They never speak of you!' was the reply.
“'Not my Lady?'
“'No!'
“'Nor even Repton?'