"Who are those ladies?" asked the apothecary, looking complacently down upon the sovereign the elder lady had slipped into his hand.
"I was just going to ask that question of you," said I.
"How! not know them—and let them go away without inquiring their names! Arn't you a simple young fellow? If it had been me now, I should have done my best to improve such a golden opportunity. Gratitude you know begets love, and I'll be sworn that the pretty young woman has a good fortune, by the anxiety the old one felt in her behalf."
I was in the maddest heroics of love. "What do I care about her property," said I disdainfully. "Such a beautiful, elegant creature is a fortune in herself."
"Yes—to those who have enough of their own. But my dear young sir, beauty won't boil the pot."
To joke me at the expense of the beautiful unknown was sacrilege, and casting upon my tormentor, a look of unmitigated contempt, I left the shop with a lofty step, and an air of offended dignity.
As I passed into the street, I fancied that the term "ridiculous puppy!" was hissed after me.
I strode back into the shop. The apothecary was waiting upon a new customer.
"Was that insult intended for me?" I demanded, in a haughty tone.
"What did I say, Sir?"