"Do you know what he came for then?"

"How should I? For half a crown, I shouldn't be surprised. He's one of those painter fellows who run up pictures by the yard."

"He came for Lily."

"What the dickens do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I say. He came to ask my consent to make my ward an offer of his hand."

"What! Before I did?"

"No; directly you had gone."

"But you had given your consent to me!"

"I told him so. He didn't seem to think that it mattered in the least."

"Well, he's a cool hand, upon my Sam!"