“Would you take a merry-thought, my dear?”

“Thank you. I will take whatever you please, R. W. ”

“Well, but my dear, do you like it?”

“I like it as well as I like anything, R. W. ” The stately woman would then, with a meritorious appearance of devoting herself to the general good, pursue her dinner as if she were feeding somebody else on high public grounds.

Bella had brought dessert and two bottles of wine, thus shedding unprecedented splendour on the occasion. Mrs. Wilfer did the honours of the first glass by proclaiming: “ R. W. I drink to you.

“Thank you, my dear. And I to you.”