“Oh, give me the letter,” cried Mrs. Beaumont, with affected eagerness.
“Let me have the paper, then,” cried Mr. Palmer. “Where are my spectacles?”
“Are there any letters for me?” said Sir John Hunter. “Did my newspapers come? Albina, I desired that they should be forwarded here. Mrs. Beaumont, can you tell me any thing of my papers?”
“Dear Amelia, how interesting your brother looks when he is pleased!” Albina whispered, quite loud enough to be heard.
“A most gallant action, by St. George!” exclaimed Mr. Palmer. “These are the things that keep up the honour of the British navy, and the glory of Britain.”
“This Spanish ship that Captain Walsingham captured the day after the engagement is likely to turn out a valuable prize, too,” said Mrs. Beaumont. “I am vastly glad to find this by his letter, for the money will be useful to him, he wanted it so much. He does not say how much his share will come to, does he, Edward?”
“No, ma’am: you see he writes in a great hurry, and he has only time, as he says, to mention the needful.”
“And is not the money the needful?” said Sir John Hunter, with a splenetic smile.
“With Walsingham it is only a secondary consideration,” replied Beaumont; “honour is Captain Walsingham’s first object. I dare say he has never yet calculated what his prize-money will be.”
“Right, right!” reiterated Mr. Palmer; “then he is the right sort. Long may it be before our naval officers think more of prize-money than of glory! Long may it be before our honest tars turn into calculating pirates!”