"I said I would none of it," answered Rochester; "for the best of all reasons, because I was going to marry you."
"Did you tell him so?" asked the Countess, eagerly.
"Yes, sweet one," replied her lover; "I wished him to know it. 'Tis too fair a fortune, my love, to be concealed."
"Now," cried the Countess, "I will wager this diamond against a flint stone that he strove to dissuade you. Was it not so, Rochester?"
"Yes, good sooth," answered her lover, laughing.
"Ay, but eagerly," said the Countess,--"vehemently?"
"Even so," rejoined Rochester; "but he might have spared his eloquence, my fair Frances; for he moved me no more than a gust of wind."
"Nay, but what did he say?" demanded Lady Essex.
"Oh, that matters not," answered the favourite; "a great deal I have forgotten."
"But I will hear," exclaimed his mistress. "I will never love you more, Rochester, if you do not tell me. Now, do not smile and look deceitful; for I will hear, word for word, all that he said."