He expressed an opinion that he
was swindled, and Mrs. Carbuncle, unable to restrain herself, had turned
upon him full of wrath. He was caught by Lizzie as he was descending the
stairs, and in the dining-room he poured out the tale of his wrongs. "That
woman doesn't know what fair dealing means," said he.
"That's a little hard, Sir Griffin, isn't it?" said Lizzie.
"Not a bit. A trumpery six hundred pounds! And she hasn't a shilling of
fortune, and never will have, beyond that! No fellow ever was more
generous or more foolish than I have been." Lizzie, as she heard this,
could not refrain from thinking of the poor departed Sir Florian. "I
didn't look for fortune, or say a word about money, as almost every man
does, but just took her as she was. And now she tells me that I can't have
just the bit of money that I wanted for our tour. It would serve them both
right if I were to give it up."
"Why don't you?" said Lizzie. He looked quickly, sharply, and closely into
her face as she asked the question. "I would, if I thought as you do."
"And lay myself in for all manner of damages," said Sir Griffin.
"There wouldn't be anything of that kind, I'm sure.
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