"I, madam? no, no; I am the coldest and most prosaic of men."
"But your poem?"
"You have heard of that?"
"Yes, indeed, sir."
"Well, madam, that is but another proof of the fact which I assert."
"How, indeed?"
"It is on the prosaic and repulsive subject of the Certiorari."
And Mr. Roundjacket smiled after such a fashion, that it was not difficult to perceive the small amount of sincerity in this declaration.
Miss Lavinia looked puzzled, and fanned herself more solemnly than ever.
"The Certiorari, did you say, sir?" she asked.