“Impossible!”
“Fact, I assure you. My tails were pinned over the patch for three weeks.”
“How did they bear it?”
“Shockingly. A general break up of the constitution—went all to pieces. First, decay appeared in the brace buttons; then the straps got out of order. They did say it was owing to the heels of the French-polished boots going down on one side, but the boots would never admit it.”
“How did you get here?”
“I came from the Bench for eggs and bacon for the Cornet and his Valet’s breakfast! What brought you?”
“The Count’s landlady, for a week’s rent.”
“What did you fetch?”
“A guinea!”
“Bless me, you must have worn well.”