"I cannot think how you can jest about so serious an affair, William," said his wife reproachfully, "you did not jest, however, whilst you believed it; he is not quite without feeling, Mr. Howard."
"And did you honor me with tears, Lady Gordon?" said the young clergyman, taking her hand with an irrepressible feeling of gratification. "That was a thing almost worth dying for."
"Come, come," said Sir William interposing, "do not be making love to Rosa before my face; though she did cry, hers were not the only tears shed on the occasion, nor the most flattering to you."
"Who else wept for me?" enquired he with something more than curiosity.
"Your old housekeeper, and your gardener's daughter," replied Lady Gordon maliciously.
"Nobody else?"
"Abominable conceit—who else do you expect to hear of?" exclaimed she, "I declare all men are alike, if you give the smallest encouragement to their good opinion of themselves, they set no bounds to their presumptuous expectations. I shall tell you no more. Find out for yourself who feels any interest in your fate."
"Miss Carr expressed great sensibility on the occasion," interrupted Sir William, "I was dancing with her at the time the news arrived, and she said:
"'Dear me, how very shocking—poor young man.'"
"Thank you," replied Howard with a glow of satisfaction, "you have told me quite enough to satisfy a much less modest man than I am. I have heard sufficient. But I think I know how the report arose. I was left behind at a riding party, as the girth of my saddle broke, and I stopped at a country shop to get it repaired. I dare say in the imperfect Welsh which was all we could muster of the country's language, there was some confusion made between a broken girth and a broken neck, which gave rise to the distressing intelligence."