"I give in," said Mark, "I give in. I don't for one moment profess to be a match for you alone, my dear; but when you get Sir Richard to side with you, I feel that I had better say as little as possible."
"A graceful defeat," said Sir Richard, "is almost as good as a clumsy victory."
"Much better," said Johanna, "a great deal better. But now, Sir Richard, you have not ridden over here to help us at our breakfast, or to talk badinage."
Mark opened his eyes very wide indeed, and looked from Johanna to the magistrate, and from the magistrate to Johanna, with evident surprise. An expression of great anxiety was each moment gathering over the face of Johanna, which Sir Richard saw, and with all that tact which with him was a kind of second nature, he said—
"I have had the pleasure of seeing your father this morning, and they are all well at the old house, and as comfortable as can be."
Johanna drew a long breath of relief, and then Mark Ingestrie cried in a voice of surprise—
"What? Do you mean to say you have been in the city before you came here, sir?"
"I have, my friend, and I have been to Colonel Jeffery's, too, before I came here. If I had not, I should not be able to indulge myself with the pleasure of staying here for even the short time that I have been beneath your roof. I must, however, go."
"Something has happened!" said Johanna.
"So there has," said the magistrate with a smile, "but it cannot be anything very serious, you know, as all our dear friends are well. Anything falls light in comparison with the health and happiness of those whom we love."