“Ha!” I said. “And he asked them of a woman!”
“Yes, sir; 'e comed up to 'er in the square and says 'e, 'You're Miss Titch, ain't you?' and 'e gets a-talkin' to 'er—a very polite gentleman 'e was, she says—and then 'e sorter gets haskin' about you, sir, and wot you was a-doing and 'oo your friends was, and about the General, too.
“And, in brief, he gossiped with her on every subject that would serve as an excuse,” I said. “Halfred, if I were you and I felt interested in Miss Titch—I say, supposing I felt interested in Miss Titch, I should look out for that foreigner and practise my boxing upon him!”
“Then you don't think, sir—”
“I don't think it was me he was interested in.”
“Well, sir,” said my servant, with a disappointed air, for he founded great hopes of melodrama upon me, “in that case I shall advise Miss Titch to take care of 'erself.”
I laughed.