"I should hardly go, sir, without wishing you goodnight. What a delightful evening it has been!"
"Ay, I think you have all enjoyed yourselves."
"Oh, very, very much."
"Well, youth is the time for enjoyment," observed the banker. "We can never again find the zest in it, once youth is past."
"You look tired, sir; otherwise I--I might have ventured to trespass on you for five minutes' conversation, late though it be," pursued Mr. Blake-Gordon with some hesitation.
"Tired!--not at all. You may take five minutes; and five to that, William."
"It is about our future residence, sir. Raven's Priory is in the market: and I think--and Mary thinks--it will just suit us."
"Ay; I heard more than a week ago that the Wests were leaving."
The words took William Blake-Gordon by surprise. He looked at the banker.
"Did you, sir!--more than a week ago! And did it not strike you that it would be a very suitable place for us?"