Chapter IV: The Green Silk Purse

by William Makepeace Thackeray

　　Poor Joe's panic lasted for two or three days; duringwhich he did not visit the house, nor during that perioddid Miss Rebecca ever mention his name. She was allrespectful gratitude to Mrs. Sedley; delighted beyondmeasure at the Bazaars; and in a whirl of wonder at thetheatre, whither the good-natured lady took her. Oneday, Amelia had a headache, and could not go upon someparty of pleasure to which the two young people wereinvited: nothing could induce her friend to go without her."What! you who have shown the poor orphan whathappiness and love are for the first time in her life--quityou? Never!" and the green eyes looked up to Heavenand filled with tears; and Mrs. Sedley could not but ownthat her daughter's friend had a charming kind heartof her own.

　　As for Mr. Sedley's jokes, Rebecca laughed at themwith a cordiality and perseverance which not a littlepleased and softened that good-natured gentleman. Norwas it with the chiefs of the family alone that MissSharp found favour. She interested Mrs. Blenkinsop byevincing the deepest sympathy in the raspberry-jampreserving, which operation was then going on in theHousekeeper's room; she persisted in calling Sambo "Sir,"and "Mr. Sambo," to the delight of that attendant; and sheapologised to the lady's maid for giving her trouble inventuring to ring the bell, with such sweetness andhumility, that the Servants' Hall was almost as charmedwith her as the Drawing Room.

　　Once, in looking over some drawings which Ameliahad sent from school, Rebecca suddenly came upon onewhich caused her to burst into tears and leave the room.It was on the day when Joe Sedley made his secondappearance.

　　Amelia hastened after her friend to know the causeof this display of feeling, and the good-natured girl cameback without her companion, rather affected too. "Youknow, her father was our drawing-master, Mamma, atChiswick, and used to do all the best parts of our drawings."

　　"My love! I'm sure I always heard Miss Pinkerton saythat he did not touch them--he only mounted them.""It was called mounting, Mamma. Rebecca remembersthe drawing, and her father working at it, and thethought of it came upon her rather suddenly--and so,you know, she--"

　　"The poor child is all heart," said Mrs. Sedley.

　　"I wish she could stay with us another week," saidAmelia.

　　"She's devilish like Miss Cutler that I used to meetat Dumdum, only fairer. She's married now to Lance,the Artillery Surgeon. Do you know, Ma'am, that onceQuintin, of the 14th, bet me--"

　　"0 Joseph, we know that story," said Amelia, laughing.Never mind about telling that; but persuade Mammato write to Sir Something Crawley for leave of absencefor poor dear Rebecca: here she comes, her eyes redwith weeping."

　　"I'm better, now," said the girl, with the sweetest smilepossible, taking good-natured Mrs. Sedley's extended handand kissing it respectfully. "How kind you all are to me!All," she added, with a laugh, "except you, Mr. Joseph."

　　"Me!" said Joseph, meditating an instant departure"Gracious Heavens! Good Gad! Miss Sharp!'

　　"Yes; how could you be so cruel as to make me eatthat horrid pepper-dish at dinner, the first day I eversaw you? You are not so good to me as dear Amelia."

　　"He doesn't know you so well," cried Amelia.

　　"I defy anybody not to be good to you, my dear,"said her mother.

　　"The curry was capital; indeed it was," said Joe, quitegravely. "Perhaps there was not enough citron juice init--no, there was not."

　　"And the chilis?"

　　"By Jove, how they made you cry out!" said Joe,caught by the ridicule of the circumstance, andexploding in a fit of laughter which ended quitesuddenly, as usual.

　　"I shall take care how I let you choose for meanother time," said Rebecca, as they went downagain to dinner. "I didn't think men were fond ofputting poor harmless girls to pain."

　　"By Gad, Miss Rebecca, I wouldn't hurt you for theworld."

　　"No," said she, "I know you wouldn't"; and then shegave him ever so gentle a pressure with her little hand,and drew it back quite frightened, and looked first forone instant in his face, and then down at the carpet-rods; and I am not prepared to say that Joe's heart didnot thump at this little involuntary, timid, gentle motionof regard on the part of the simple girl.

　　It was an advance, and as such, perhaps, some ladiesof indisputable correctness and gentility will condemn theaction as immodest; but, you see, poor dear Rebeccahad all this work to do for herself. If a person is toopoor to keep a servant, though ever so elegant, he mustsweep his own rooms: if a dear girl has no dear Mammato settle matters with the young man, she must do itfor herself. And oh, what a mercy it is that these womendo not exercise their powers oftener! We can't resistthem, if they do. Let them show ever so little inclination,and men go down on their knees at once: old or ugly,it is all the same. And this I set down as a positivetruth. A woman with fair opportunities, and without anabsolute hump, may marry whom she likes. Only let usbe thankful that the darlings are like the beasts of thefield, and don't know their own power. They wouldovercome us entirely if they did.

　　"Egad!" thought Joseph, entering the dining-room, "Iexactly begin to feel as I did at Dumdum with MissCutler." Many sweet little appeals, half tender, halfjocular, did Miss Sharp make to him about the dishesat dinner; for by this time she was on a footing ofconsiderable familiarity with the family, and as for thegirls, they loved each other like sisters. Young unmarriedgirls always do, if they are in a house together for tendays.

　　As if bent upon advancing Rebecca's plans in everyway--what must Amelia do, but remind her brother ofa promise made last Easter holidays--"When I was agirl at school," said she, laughing--a promise that he,Joseph, would take her to Vauxhall. "Now," she said,"that Rebecca is with us, will be the very time."

　　"O, delightful!" said Rebecca, going to clap her hands;but she recollected herself, and paused, like a modestcreature, as she was.

　　"To-night is not the night," said Joe.

　　"Well, to-morrow."

　　"To-morrow your Papa and I dine out," said Mrs.Sedley.

　　"You don't suppose that I'm going, Mrs. Sed?" saidher husband, "and that a woman of your years and sizeis to catch cold, in such an abominable damp place?"

　　'The children must have someone with them," criedMrs. Sedley.

　　"Let Joe go," said-his father, laughing. "He's bigenough." At which speech even Mr. Sambo at thesideboard burst out laughing, and poor fat Joe feltinclined to become a parricide almost.

　　"Undo his stays!" continued the pitiless old gentleman."Fling some water in his face, Miss Sharp, or carry himupstairs: the dear creature's fainting. Poor victim! carryhim up; he's as light as a feather!"

　　"If I stand this, sir, I'm d--!" roared Joseph.

　　"Order Mr. Jos's elephant, Sambo!" cried the father."Send to Exeter 'Change, Sambo"; but seeing Jos readyalmost to cry with vexation, the old joker stopped hislaughter, and said, holding out his hand to his son, "It'sall fair on the Stock Exchange, Jos--and, Sambo, nevermind the elephant, but give me and Mr. Jos a glass ofChampagne. Boney himself hasn't got such in his cellar,my boy!"

　　A goblet of Champagne restored Joseph's equanimity,and before the bottle was emptied, of which as an invalidhe took two-thirds, he had agreed to take the youngladies to Vauxhall.

　　"The girls must have a gentleman apiece," said the oldgentleman. "Jos will be sure to leave Emmy in the crowd,he will be so taken up with Miss Sharp here. Send to 96,and ask George Osborne if he'll come."

　　At this, I don't know in the least for what reason,Mrs. Sedley looked at her husband and laughed. Mr.Sedley's eyes twinkled in a manner indescribablyroguish, and he looked at Amelia; and Amelia, hangingdown her head, blushed as only young ladies of seventeenknow how to blush, and as Miss Rebecca Sharp neverblushed in her life--at least not since she was eightyears old, and when she was caught stealing jam out ofa cupboard by her godmother. "Amelia had better writea note," said her father; "and let George Osborne seewhat a beautiful handwriting we have brought back fromMiss Pinkerton's. Do you remember when you wrote tohim to come on Twelfth-night, Emmy, and spelt twelfthwithout the f?"

　　"That was years ago," said Amelia.

　　"It seems like yesterday, don't it, John?" said Mrs.Sedley to her husband; and that night in a conversationwhich took place in a front room in the second floor,in a sort of tent, hung round with chintz of a rich andfantastic India pattern, and double with calico of atender rose-colour; in the interior of which species ofmarquee was a featherbed, on which were two pillows,on which were two round red faces, one in a lacednightcap, and one in a simple cotton one, ending in a tassel--in a curtain lecture, I say, Mrs. Sedley took herhusband to task for his cruel conduct to poor Joe.

　　"It was quite wicked of you, Mr. Sedley," said she,"to torment the poor boy so."

　　"My dear," said the cotton-tassel in defence of hisconduct, "Jos is a great deal vainer than you ever werein your life, and that's saying a good deal. Though, somethirty years ago, in the year seventeen hundred andeighty--what was it?--perhaps you had a right to bevain--I don't say no. But I've no patience with Jos andhis dandified modesty. It is out-Josephing Joseph, my dear,and all the while the boy is only thinking of himself,and what a fine fellow he is. I doubt, Ma'am, we shallhave some trouble with him yet. Here is Emmy's littlefriend making love to him as hard as she can; that'squite clear; and if she does not catch him some otherwill. That man is destined to be a prey to woman, asI am to go on 'Change every day. It's a mercy he didnot bring us over a black daughter-in-law, my dear. But,mark my words, the first woman who fishes for him,hooks him."

　　"She shall go off to-morrow, the little artful creature,"said Mrs. Sedley, with great energy.

　　"Why not she as well as another, Mrs. Sedley? Thegirl's a white face at any rate. I don't care who marrieshim. Let Joe please himself."

　　And presently the voices of the two speakers werehushed, or were replaced by the gentle but unromanticmusic of the nose; and save when the church bellstolled the hour and the watchman called it, all wassilent at the house of John Sedley, Esquire, of RussellSquare, and the Stock Exchange.

　　When morning came, the good-natured Mrs. Sedley nolonger thought of executing her threats with regard toMiss Sharp; for though nothing is more keen, nor morecommon, nor more justifiable, than maternal jealousy,yet she could not bring herself to suppose that the little,humble, grateful, gentle governess would dare to lookup to such a magnificent personage as the Collector ofBoggley Wollah. The petition, too, for an extension ofthe young lady's leave of absence had already beendespatched, and it would be difficult to find a pretext forabruptly dismissing her.

　　And as if all things conspired in favour of the gentleRebecca, the very elements (although she was notinclined at first to acknowledge their action in her behalf)interposed to aid her. For on the evening appointed forthe Vauxhall party, George Osborne having come todinner, and the elders of the house having departed,according to invitation, to dine with Alderman Balls atHighbury Barn, there came on such a thunder-storm as onlyhappens on Vauxhall nights, and as obliged the youngpeople, perforce, to remain at home. Mr. Osborne didnot seem in the least disappointed at this occurrence.He and Joseph Sedley drank a fitting quantity ofport-wine, tete-a-tete, in the dining-room, during thedrinking of which Sedley told a number of his best Indianstories; for he was extremely talkative in man's society;and afterwards Miss Amelia Sedley did the honours ofthe drawing-room; and these four young persons passedsuch a comfortable evening together, that they declaredthey were rather glad of the thunder-storm thanotherwise, which had caused them to put off theirvisit to Vauxhall.

　　Osborne was Sedley's godson, and had been one of thefamily any time these three-and-twenty years. At sixweeks old, he had received from John Sedley a presentof a silver cup; at six months old, a coral with goldwhistle and bells; from his youth upwards he was"tipped" regularly by the old gentleman at Christmas:and on going back to school, he remembered perfectlywell being thrashed by Joseph Sedley, when the latterwas a big, swaggering hobbadyhoy, and George animpudent urchin of ten years old. In a word, George wasas familiar with the family as such daily acts ofkindness and intercourse could make him.

　　"Do you remember, Sedley, what a fury you were in,when I cut off the tassels of your Hessian boots, andhow Miss--hem!--how Amelia rescued me from abeating, by falling down on her knees and crying out toher brother Jos, not to beat little George?"

　　Jos remembered this remarkable circumstanceperfectly well, but vowed that he had totallyforgotten it.

　　"Well, do you remember coming down in a gig to Dr.Swishtail's to see me, before you went to India, andgiving me half a guinea and a pat on the head? I alwayshad an idea that you were at least seven feet high, andwas quite astonished at your return from India to findyou no taller than myself."

　　"How good of Mr. Sedley to go to your school andgive you the money!" exclaimed Rebecca, in accents ofextreme delight.

　　"Yes, and after I had cut the tassels of his boots too.Boys never forget those tips at school, nor the givers."

　　"I delight in Hessian boots," said Rebecca. Jos Sedley,who admired his own legs prodigiously, and alwayswore this ornamental chaussure, was extremely pleasedat this remark, though he drew his legs under his chairas it was made.

　　"Miss Sharp!" said George Osborne, "you who areso clever an artist, you must make a grand historicalpicture of the scene of the boots. Sedley shall berepresented in buckskins, and holding one of theinjured boots in one hand; by the other he shall havehold of my shirt-frill. Amelia shall be kneeling near him,with her little hands up; and the picture shall have agrand allegorical title, as the frontispieces have in theMedulla and the spelling-book."

　　"I shan't have time to do it here," said Rebecca. 'I'lldo it when--when I'm gone." And she dropped her voice,and looked so sad and piteous, that everybody felt howcruel her lot was, and how sorry they would be topart with her.

　　"O that you could stay longer, dear Rebecca," saidAmelia.

　　"Why?" answered the other, still more sadly. "ThatI may be only the more unhap--unwilling to lose you?"And she turned away her head. Amelia began to giveway to that natural infirmity of tears which, we havesaid, was one of the defects of this silly little thing. GeorgeOsborne looked at the two young women with a touchedcuriosity; and Joseph Sedley heaved something very likea sigh out of his big chest, as he cast his eyes downtowards his favourite Hessian boots.

　　"Let us have some music, Miss Sedley--Amelia," saidGeorge, who felt at that moment an extraordinary,almost irresistible impulse to seize the above-mentionedyoung woman in his arms, and to kiss her in the face ofthe company; and she looked at him for a moment, andif I should say that they fell in love with each other atthat single instant of time, I should perhaps be tellingan untruth, for the fact is that these two young peoplehad been bred up by their parents for this very purpose,and their banns had, as it were, been read in theirrespective families any time these ten years. They wentoff to the piano, which was situated, as pianos usuallyare, in the back drawing-room; and as it was rather dark,Miss Amelia, in the most unaffected way in the world,put her hand into Mr. Osborne's, who, of course, couldsee the way among the chairs and ottomans a great dealbetter than she could. But this arrangement left Mr.Joseph Sedley tete-a-tete with Rebecca, at thedrawing-room table, where the latter was occupiedin knitting a green silk purse.

　　"There is no need to ask family secrets," said MissSharp. "Those two have told theirs."

　　"As soon as he gets his company," said Joseph, "Ibelieve the affair is settled. George Osborne is a capitalfellow."

　　"And your sister the dearest creature in the world,"said Rebecca. "Happy the man who wins her!" Withthis, Miss Sharp gave a great sigh.

　　When two unmarried persons get together, and talkupon such delicate subjects as the present, a great dealof confidence and intimacy is presently establishedbetween them. There is no need of giving a special reportof the conversation which now took place between Mr.Sedley and the young lady; for the conversation, as maybe judged from the foregoing specimen, was not especiallywitty or eloquent; it seldom is in private societies, oranywhere except in very high-flown and ingenious novels.As there was music in the next room, the talk wascarried on, of course, in a low and becoming tone, though,for the matter of that, the couple in the next apartmentwould not have been disturbed had the talking been everso loud, so occupied were they with their own pursuits.

　　Almost for the first time in his life, Mr. Sedley foundhimself talking, without the least timidity or hesitation,to a person of the other sex. Miss Rebecca asked him agreat number of questions about India, which gave himan opportunity of narrating many interesting anecdotesabout that country and himself. He described the ballsat Government House, and the manner in which theykept themselves cool in the hot weather, with punkahs,tatties, and other contrivances; and he was very wittyregarding the number of Scotchmen whom Lord Minto,the Governor-General, patronised; and then he describeda tiger-hunt; and the manner in which the mahout of hiselephant had been pulled off his seat by one of theinfuriated animals. How delighted Miss Rebecca was atthe Government balls, and how she laughed at the storiesof the Scotch aides-de-camp, and called Mr. Sedley asad wicked satirical creature; and how frightened she wasJoseph Sedley tete-a-tete with Rebecca, at thedrawing-room table, where the latter was occupiedin knitting a green silk purse.

　　"There is no need to ask family secrets," said MissSharp. "Those two have told theirs."

　　"As soon as he gets his company," said Joseph, "Ibelieve the affair is settled. George Osborne is a capitalfellow."

　　"And your sister the dearest creature in the world,"said Rebecca. "Happy the man who wins her!" Withthis, Miss Sharp gave a great sigh.

　　When two unmarried persons get together, and talkupon such delicate subjects as the present, a great dealof confidence and intimacy is presently establishedbetween them. There is no need of giving a special reportof the conversation which now took place between Mr.Sedley and the young lady; for the conversation, as maybe judged from the foregoing specimen, was not especiallywitty or eloquent; it seldom is in private societies, oranywhere except in very high-flown and ingenious novels.As there was music in the next room, the talk wascarried on, of course, in a low and becoming tone, though,for the matter of that, the couple in the next apartmentwould not have been disturbed had the talking been everso loud, so occupied were they with their own pursuits.

　　Almost for the first time in his life, Mr. Sedley foundhimself talking, without the least timidity or hesitation,to a person of the other sex. Miss Rebecca asked him agreat number of questions about India, which gave himan opportunity of narrating many interesting anecdotesabout that country and himself. He described the ballsat Government House, and the manner in which theykept themselves cool in the hot weather, with punkahs,tatties, and other contrivances; and he was very wittyregarding the number of Scotchmen whom Lord Minto,the Governor-General, patronised; and then he describeda tiger-hunt; and the manner in which the mahout of hiselephant had been pulled off his seat by one of theinfuriated animals. How delighted Miss Rebecca was atthe Government balls, and how she laughed at the storiesof the Scotch aides-de-camp, and called Mr. Sedley asad wicked satirical creature; and how frightened she wasat the story of the elephant! "For your mother's sake,dear Mr. Sedley," she said, "for the sake of all yourfriends, promise never to go on one of those horridexpeditions."

　　"Pooh, pooh, Miss Sharp," said he, pulling up his shirt-collars; "the danger makes the sport only the pleasanter."He had never been but once at a tiger-hunt, when theaccident in question occurred, and when he was halfkilled--not by the tiger, but by the fright. And as hetalked on, he grew quite bold, and actually had theaudacity to ask Miss Rebecca for whom she wasknitting the green silk purse? He was quite surprisedand delighted at his own graceful familiar manner.

　　"For any one who wants a purse," replied MissRebecca, looking at him in the most gentle winning way.Sedley was going to make one of the most eloquentspeeches possible, and had begun--"O Miss Sharp,how--" when some song which was performed in theother room came to an end, and caused him to hearhis own voice so distinctly that he stopped, blushed, andblew his nose in great agitation.

　　"Did you ever hear anything like your brother'seloquence?" whispered Mr. Osborne to Amelia. "Why,your friend has worked miracles."

　　"The more the better," said Miss Amelia; who, likealmost all women who are worth a pin, was a match-maker in her heart, and would have been delighted thatJoseph should carry back a wife to India. She had, too,in the course of this few days' constant intercourse,warmed into a most tender friendship for Rebecca, anddiscovered a million of virtues and amiable qualities inher which she had not perceived when they were atChiswick together. For the affection of young ladies isof as rapid growth as Jack's bean-stalk, and reaches upto the sky in a night. It is no blame to them that aftermarriage this Sehnsucht nach der Liebe subsides. It iswhat sentimentalists, who deal in very big words, call ayearning after the Ideal, and simply means that womenare commonly not satisfied until they have husbandsand children on whom they may centre affections, whichare spent elsewhere, as it were, in small change.

　　Having expended her little store of songs, or havingstayed long enough in the back drawing-room, it nowappeared proper to Miss Amelia to ask her friend tosing. "You would not have listened to me," she said toMr. Osborne (though she knew she was telling a fib),"had you heard Rebecca first."

　　"I give Miss Sharp warning, though," said Osborne,"that, right or wrong, I consider Miss Amelia Sedleythe first singer in the world."

　　"You shall hear," said Amelia; and Joseph Sedley wasactually polite enough to carry the candles to the piano.Osborne hinted that he should like quite as well to sitin the dark; but Miss Sedley, laughing, declined to bearhim company any farther, and the two accordinglyfollowed Mr. Joseph. Rebecca sang far better than herfriend (though of course Osborne was free to keep hisopinion), and exerted herself to the utmost, and,indeed, to the wonder of Amelia, who had never knownher perform so well. She sang a French song, whichJoseph did not understand in the least, and which Georgeconfessed he did not understand, and then a number ofthose simple ballads which were the fashion forty yearsago, and in which British tars, our King, poor Susan,blue-eyed Mary, and the like, were the principal themes.They are not, it is said, very brilliant, in a musical pointof view, but contain numberless good-natured, simpleappeals to the affections, which people understood betterthan the milk-and-water lagrime, sospiri, and felicitaof the eternal Donizettian music with which we arefavoured now-a-days.

　　Conversation of a sentimental sort, befitting thesubject, was carried on between the songs, to whichSambo, after he had brought the tea, the delighted cook,and even Mrs. Blenkinsop, the housekeeper, condescendedto listen on the landing-place.

　　Among these ditties was one, the last of the concert,and to the following effect:

　　Ah! bleak and barren was the moor,Ah! loud and piercing was the storm,The cottage roof was shelter'd sure,The cottage hearth was bright and warm--An orphan boy the lattice pass'd,And, as he mark'd its cheerful glow,Felt doubly keen the midnight blast,And doubly cold the fallen snow.

　　They mark'd him as he onward prest,With fainting heart and weary limb;Kind voices bade him turn and rest,And gentle faces welcomed him.The dawn is up--the guest is gone,The cottage hearth is blazing still;Heaven pity all poor wanderers lone!Hark to the wind upon the hill!

　　It was the sentiment of the before-mentioned words,"When I'm gone," over again. As she came to the lastwords, Miss Sharp's "deep-toned voice faltered."Everybody felt the allusion to her departure, and to herhapless orphan state. Joseph Sedley, who was fond of music,and soft-hearted, was in a state of ravishment during theperformance of the song, and profoundly touched at itsconclusion. If he had had the courage; if George and MissSedley had remained, according to the former's proposal,in the farther room, Joseph Sedley's bachelorhood wouldhave been at an end, and this work would never havebeen written. But at the close of the ditty, Rebecca quittedthe piano, and giving her hand to Amelia, walked awayinto the front drawing-room twilight; and, at thismoment, Mr. Sambo made his appearance with a tray,containing sandwiches, jellies, and some glittering glassesand decanters, on which Joseph Sedley's attention wasimmediately fixed. When the parents of the house of Sedleyreturned from their dinner-party, they found the youngpeople so busy in talking, that they had not heard thearrival of the carriage, and Mr. Joseph was in the act ofsaying, "My dear Miss Sharp, one little teaspoonful ofjelly to recruit you after your immense--your--yourdelightful exertions."

　　"Bravo, Jos!" said Mr. Sedley; on hearing the banteringof which well-known voice, Jos instantly relapsedinto an alarmed silence, and quickly took his departure.He did not lie awake all night thinking whether or not hewas in love with Miss Sharp; the passion of love neverinterfered with the appetite or the slumber of Mr. JosephSedley; but he thought to himself how delightful it wouldbe to hear such songs as those after Cutcherry--what adistinguee girl she was--how she could speak Frenchbetter than the Governor-General's lady herself--andwhat a sensation she would make at the Calcutta balls."It's evident the poor devil's in love with me," thoughthe. "She is just as rich as most of the girls who comeout to India. I might go farther, and fare worse, egad!"And in these meditations he fell asleep.

　　How Miss Sharp lay awake, thinking, will he come ornot to-morrow? need not be told here. To-morrow came,and, as sure as fate, Mr. Joseph Sedley made hisappearance before luncheon. He had never been knownbefore to confer such an honour on Russell Square. GeorgeOsborne was somehow there already (sadly "putting out"Amelia, who was writing to her twelve dearest friends atChiswick Mall), and Rebecca was employed upon heryesterday's work. As Joe's buggy drove up, and while, afterhis usual thundering knock and pompous bustle at thedoor, the ex-Collector of Boggley Wollah laboured upstairs to the drawing-room, knowing glances weretelegraphed between Osborne and Miss Sedley, and the pair,smiling archly, looked at Rebecca, who actually blushedas she bent her fair ringlets over her knitting. How herheart beat as Joseph appeared--Joseph, puffing from thestaircase in shining creaking boots--Joseph, in a newwaistcoat, red with heat and nervousness, and blushingbehind his wadded neckcloth. It was a nervous momentfor all; and as for Amelia, I think she was more frightenedthan even the people most concerned.

　　Sambo, who flung open the door and announced Mr.Joseph, followed grinning, in the Collector's rear, andbearing two handsome nosegays of flowers, which themonster had actually had the gallantry to purchase inCovent Garden Market that morning--they were not asbig as the haystacks which ladies carry about with themnow-a-days, in cones of filigree paper; but the youngwomen were delighted with the gift, as Joseph presentedone to each, with an exceedingly solemn bow.

　　"Bravo, Jos!" cried Osborne.

　　"Thank you, dear Joseph," said Amelia, quite ready tokiss her brother, if he were so minded. (And I think fora kiss from such a dear creature as Amelia, I wouldpurchase all Mr. Lee's conservatories out of hand.)

　　"O heavenly, heavenly flowers!" exclaimed Miss Sharp,and smelt them delicately, and held them to her bosom,and cast up her eyes to the ceiling, in an ecstasy ofadmiration. Perhaps she just looked first into the bouquet,to see whether there was a billet-doux hidden among theflowers; but there was no letter.

　　"Do they talk the language of flowers at BoggleyWollah, Sedley?" asked Osborne, laughing.

　　"Pooh, nonsense!" replied the sentimental youth."Bought 'em at Nathan's; very glad you like 'em; and eh,Amelia, my dear, I bought a pine-apple at the sametime, which I gave to Sambo. Let's have it for tiffin;very cool and nice this hot weather." Rebecca said shehad never tasted a pine, and longed beyond everythingto taste one.

　　So the conversation went on. I don't know on whatpretext Osborne left the room, or why, presently, Ameliawent away, perhaps to superintend the slicing of thepine-apple; but Jos was left alone with Rebecca, who hadresumed her work, and the green silk and the shiningneedles were quivering rapidly under her white slenderfingers.

　　"What a beautiful, byoo-ootiful song that was you sanglast night, dear Miss Sharp," said the Collector. "It mademe cry almost; 'pon my honour it did."

　　"Because you have a kind heart, Mr. Joseph; all theSedleys have, I think."

　　"It kept me awake last night, and I was trying to humit this morning, in bed; I was, upon my honour. Gollop,my doctor, came in at eleven (for I'm a sad invalid, youknow, and see Gollop every day), and, 'gad! there Iwas, singing away like--a robin."

　　"O you droll creature! Do let me hear you sing it."

　　"Me? No, you, Miss Sharp; my dear Miss Sharp, dosing it.

　　"Not now, Mr. Sedley," said Rebecca, with a sigh. "Myspirits are not equal to it; besides, I must finish thepurse. Will you help me, Mr. Sedley?" And before he hadtime to ask how, Mr. Joseph Sedley, of the East IndiaCompany's service, was actually seated tete-a-tete witha young lady, looking at her with a most killing expression;his arms stretched out before her in an imploring attitude,and his hands bound in a web of green silk, which shewas unwinding.

　　In this romantic position Osborne and Amelia foundthe interesting pair, when they entered to announce thattiffin was ready. The skein of silk was just wound roundthe card; but Mr. Jos had never spoken.

　　"I am sure he will to-night, dear," Amelia said, as shepressed Rebecca's hand; and Sedley, too, had communedwith his soul, and said to himself, " 'Gad, I'll pop thequestion at Vauxhall."