"
"You'll excuse me, my friend, if I beg that you and your good wife
will trot off to the theatre to-night without troubling about me.
The--er--fact is, I have come up to Plymouth primarily to consult a
lawyer on a somewhat delicate business, and shall be glad of a few
hours' solitude this evening to prepare my case. Do you happen, by
the way, to know of a good lawyer? I wish for the very best advice
procurable."
"Eh--eh? Delicate business, you say? My dear fellow, no
entanglement, I hope? You always _were_, you know. . . . But I've
said it a thousand times--you ought to get married; and Maria agrees
with me . . . a man of your presence, carrying his years as you do.
Eh? You're blushing, man. Then maybe 'tis the real thing, and
you've come up to talk over settlements?"
"Tut-tut!" interposed the Major, who indeed had coloured up, and
apparently not with annoyance. "There's no woman at all in the case
I'm referring to." But here he checked himself. "Nay, I forgot; I'm
wrong there," he admitted; "and if she hadn't had twins, I don't
believe 'twould have happened."
"Curious circumstance to forget," murmured Mr. Basket; but,
perceiving that the Major was indisposed to be communicative, pressed
him no further.
At dinner Mrs. Basket, whose welcome had at first been qualified by
the prospect of having to give to the unexpected guest her seat at
_Love Between Decks_ (on which, good soul, she had set her heart),
showed herself in her most amiable light.
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