human
Yes, you are right; he showed his hand, and of how much he loved me at first sight, as he asked in that scared way for my sweet sister, but bah! such maudlin folly in our wasting our precious moments over _his_ feelings in the matter; they are of no more consequence than are the blades of grass we crush beneath our feet in reaching our goal; let him laugh who wins, even though the goal be reached by a foul.
gpt
Yes, the sooner we hold the lines the better; he has not spirit enough to be a runaway horse.
human
Let him but try, there is the curb bit and halter.
gpt
Oh, you need not tell me, Margaret, that you will have him well in hand. Yes, and before that paradise of fools, the honeymoon, is over,
human
Yes, the grey mare will be the best horse this time; but what a blessing his father is laid low; it would have been all up, when he saw how cut up our precious Charles is. I did hope, had they come over together, they might have been shrewd as their Yankee neighbors, and gone in with us. Now, if his father should die, we have nothing to fear; if he lives, we must exercise our wits, that is all. And, now, as to your little fiction as to the telegram summoning you away at daybreak, where will you stay?
gpt
Oh, anywhere, in some quiet cheap boarding-house in East End, London; perhaps Tom Lang's.
human
I suppose it's soft of me, uncle; but I may not have a quiet word with you again. You must mind, I mean what I say. You must pay aunt one hundred pounds per annum for her own requirements and beloved mission work, though what she gives would not buy salt to their porridge, unless to that of her pet parson himself.
gpt
When you know this, Margaret, why make such an ass of yourself as to give it her; for, in my opinion, she is hoarding.
human
It is in the blood; but you are a monopolist, she said sententiously as, merely tapping on the door of the cottage, they entered _sans ceremonie_, meeting the Rev. Claude Parks in the hall, who, shaking hands with both, said:
gpt
I had some calls this evening, but expecting you in, postponed them. At what hour to-morrow am I to tie the knot?
human
Never put off till to-morrow what can be done to-day, Mr. Parks; you may take that for your text next Sunday,
gpt
Nothing like it, Parks,
human
I shall give you another, said the curate rejoicing in his coming fee.
gpt
Yes, said Miss Villiers,
human
and if his appetite be too strong for him, sells himself, like Esau, for a