"He is so very respectable," said Mr. Gibbs, "and at a very suitable age for Caroline; two giddy people together would never do any good: I don't think much good ever comes of early marriages."
"We were neither of us of age when we married," interposed Mrs. Gibbs: "I hope you consider that case to have been an exception."
Mr. Gibbs was still dozy, and he nodded his head just at the right moment. The lady continued.
"If I were asked to choose a husband for my daughter, I shouldn't hesitate to give her Paine."
"Nor I either," replied Gibbs, who misunderstood his wife; "it would be entirely for her own good."
"He is a very pleasant man," ruminated Mrs. Gibbs.
"He has a thorough knowledge of the world, a great deal of philosophy, and——"
"A nice house in the Regent's Park."
We need not further pursue the interesting dialogue; suffice it to say that it terminated in a decision favourable to Mr. Paine, and a comfortable belief that if Mr. Charles Langton should go out of his mind, it would be entirely his own fault, as any encouragement which he might fancy to have been given, was only to be attributed to Mr. Gibbs's "manner."