"Oh! I dare not, I dare not—not yet, oh lud, oh lud! how shall I look the world in the face?"
Vernon thought for a moment.
"Where are your pearls kept?"
"In my mamma's trunkmail, but Betty could give me the key—and sometimes in her jewel case."
"On the thirtieth," said Vernon, "there will be a ball at Daish's Rooms, next to the Blue Boar where I lodge. You will surely be there, 'tis my lady Bunbutter's rout."
"Yes, we shall be there," said Phyllida.
"At two o'clock in the morning, I will have a post-chaise waiting by St. Simon's Church corner, opposite Leonard's toy shop. Would you have the courage to slip out, my dearest heart, my Phyllida?"
"Oh, no, I could not travel by night."
"'Twould be safer," urged Vernon.
"No, no, I could not."