"Oh, poor, dear, absurd EDDY!"
"And you have come here all alone?"
"Yes; and to escape being married to EDDY'S perfectly hateful uncle, who
has the same as ordered me to become his utterly disgusted bride. Oh,
why is it, why is it, that I must be thus persecuted by young men
without property! Why is it that perfectly horrid madmen on salaries are
allowed to claim me as their own!"
"My dear," cried the old lawyer, leading her to a chair, and striving to
speak soothingly, "if Mr. BUMSTEAD desires to marry you he must indeed
be insane. Such a man ought really to be confined," he continued, pacing
thoughtfully up and down the room. "This must have been the idea that
was already turning his brain when--bless my soul!--he actually
intimated, first, that I, and then, that Mr. SIMPSON, had killed his
nephew!"
"He thinks, now, that I, or MAGNOLIA PENDRAGON, may have done it,--the
hateful creature!" said FLORA, passionately.
"I see, I see," assented Mr. DIBBLE, nodding. "When he has you in his
head, my dear, he himself must clearly be out of it. You shall stay here
and take tea with me, and then I will take you to FRENCH'S Hotel for
your accommodation during the night.
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