'Shut up, will ye?' growled Dudley, savagely.
'Oh, Dudley, Dudley, darling! what have I done?'
'Bin and ruined me, jest—that's all.'
'Oh! no, no, no, Dudley. Ye know I wouldn't. I could not—could not hurt ye, Dudley. No, no, no!'
He grinned at her, and, with a sharp side-nod, said—
'Wait a bit.'
'Oh, Dudley, don't be vexed, dear. I did not mean it. I would not hurt ye for all the world. Never.'
'Well, never mind. You and yours tricked me finely; and now you've got me—that's all.'
My uncle laughed a very odd laugh.
'I knew it, of course; and upon my word, madame, you and he make a very pretty couple,' sneered Uncle Silas.