"And this"--I give you the gist of his meditations--"this is Peggy's
dearest friend! Oh, Philanthropy, are thy protestations, then, all
void and empty, and are thy noblest sentiments--every one of 'em--so
full of sound and rhetoric, so specious, so delectable--are these,
then, but dicers' oaths!"
Aloud, "I'm rather surprised, you know," he said, slowly, "that you
take it just this way, Mrs. Haggage. I should have thought you'd have
been sorry on--on Miss Hugonin's account. It's awfully jolly of you,
of course--oh, awfully jolly, and I appreciate it at its true worth, I
assure you. But it's a bit awkward, isn't it, that the poor girl will