"Joke. D—n me, there was no joke at all!"
"Oh, very good."
"And it ain't very good."
Charles knew very well that, this sort of humour, in which was the old admiral, would soon pass away, and then that he would listen to him comfortably enough; so he would not allow the least exhibition of petulance or mere impatience to escape himself, but contented himself by waiting until the ebullition of feeling fairly worked itself out.
"Well, well," at length said the old man, "you have dragged me here, into a very small and a very dull room, under pretence of having something to tell me, and I have heard nothing yet."
"Then I will now tell you," said Charles. "I fell in love—"
"Bah!"
"With Flora Bannerworth, abroad; she is not only the most beautiful of created beings—"
"Bah!"
"But her mind is of the highest order of intelligence, honour, candour, and all amiable feelings—"