“I am sorry, my lord, that business prevented my sooner attending to your lordship’s kind summons.”
“Come, Seagrove, don’t be nonsensical,” said Hautaine; “you told me yourself, the other evening, when you were talkative, that you had never had a brief in your life.”
“And a very fortunate circumstance,” replied Seagrove; “for if I had had a brief I should not have known what to have done with it. It is not my fault; I am fit for nothing but a commissioner. But still I had business, and very important business, too. I was summoned by Ponsonby to go with him to Tattersall’s, to give my opinion about a horse he wishes to purchase, and then to attend him to Forest Wild to plead his cause with his uncle.”
“It appears, then, that you were retained,” replied Lord B—; “may I ask you whether your friend gained his cause?”
“No, my lord, he lost his cause, but he gained a suit.”
“Expound your riddle, sir,” said Cecilia Ossulton.
“The fact is, that old Ponsonby is very anxious that William should marry Miss Percival, whose estates join on to Forest Wild. Now, my friend William is about as fond of marriage as I am of law, and thereby issue was joined.”
“But why were you to be called in?” inquired Mrs Lascelles.
“Because, madam, as Ponsonby never buys a horse without consulting me—”
“I cannot see the analogy, sir,” observed Miss Ossulton, senior, bridling up.