“You are sharp on me this morning, sir; no one but the lady, herself, can say that.”
“There you are mistaken. I know it, and am ready to give my reasons for what I say.”
“I should be pleased to hear them, sir—always respect your reasoning powers, though I think no man can say who a lady will or will not marry.”
“In the first place, she does not like you. That is one sufficient reason, Timms—”
“Her dislike may be overcome, sir.”
“Her tastes are very refined. She dislikes her present husband principally because he takes snuff.”
“I should have thought she might have discovered her feelings on that subject, before she went so far.”
“Not as they manage matters in Europe. There, the suitor is not permitted to kiss his intended, as so often happens among ourselves, I fancy; and she had no opportunity of ascertaining how unpleasant snuff is. You chew and smoke, and she will endure neither.”
“I’ll forswear both, rather than not be agreeable to dear Mary Monson.”
“Ah! my poor Timms, I see you are deeper in this affair than I had supposed. But I shall turn you over to Mrs. Gott, who has promised to have an explanation with you, and who, I believe, will speak by authority.”