'Very,' replied Cutitfat, in the same key, adding, in a whisper, with a shrug of his shoulders, 'Wonder what made him ask half the people that are here!'
'The black and white one isn't a bad un,' observed Bouncey, nodding his head towards the cows, adding in an undertone, 'Most of them asked themselves, I should think.'
'Admiring the cows. Captain Bouncey?' asked the beautiful and tolerably virtuous Miss Glitters, of the Astley's Royal Amphitheatre, who had come down to spend a few days with her old friend, Lady Scattercash. 'Admiring the cows, Captain Bouncey?' asked she, sidling her elegant figure between our friends in the bay.
'We were just saying how nice it would be to have two or three pretty girls, and a sillabub, under those cedars,' replied Captain Bouncey.
'Oh, charming!' exclaimed Miss Glitters, her dark eyes sparkling as she spoke. 'Harriet!' exclaimed she, addressing herself to a young lady, who called herself Howard, but whose real name was Brown—Jane Brown—'Harriet!' exclaimed she, 'Captain Bouncey is going to give a fête champêtre under those lovely cedars.'
'Oh, how nice!' exclaimed Harriet, clapping her hands in ecstasies—theatrical ecstasies at least.
'It must be Sir Harry,' replied the billiard-table man, not fancying being 'let in' for anything.
'Oh! Sir Harry will let us have anything we like, I'm sure,' rejoined Miss Glitters.
'What is it (hiccup)?' asked Sir Harry, who, hearing his name, now joined the party.