'And yet, so grand were her replies,
I could not choose but deem her wise;
I did not dare to criticise;
'Nor did I leave her, till she went
So deep in tangled argument
That all my powers of thought were spent,'
A little whisper inly slid;
'Yet truth is truth: you know you did—'
A little wink beneath the lid.
And, sickened with excess of dread,