“So the Coffinkey is unlocked at last! Stern Proserpine relented!”
“Robert! You here?”
“You never used to call me Robert.”
“Mamma says it is time to leave off the other.”
“Perhaps she would like you to call me Mr. Robert Otway Brownlow.”
“Don’t talk of mamma in that way.”
“I would do anything my queen tells me except command my tones when there is an attempt to stiffen her. She is not to be made into buckram.”
“Please, Robert,” as some one met and looked at them, “let me walk on by myself.”
“What? Shall I be the means of getting you into trouble?”
“No, but I ought not—”