"Surely you are not putting off the Earl of Fife?" said Miss Eliza Higgins, in breathless agitation.
"I think it wrong to introduce such a gay man to an innocent woman," was my answer.
Miss Higgins entreated and begged in vain.
"Well then," said Miss Higgins, "I confess that I once——"
"Once what?" I asked.
"I had a slip—a—yes—a slip!" And she held her handkerchief to her eyes.
"What do you call a slip? Do you mean a petticoat or an intrigue!"
"Oh, fie! fie!" said Miss Eliza Higgins. "Intrigue is such a shocking word, and conveys a more determined idea of loose morals than a mere accidental slip."
I still persisted in sending the excuse, declaring that, since hers had been only an accidental slip, she might recover it.