“Out with it then,” replied Mr. Boffin, “and cut it short, for we’ve had enough of you.”

“I have borne,” said the Secretary, in a low voice, “with my false position here, that I might not be separated from Miss Wilfer. To be near her, has been a recompense to me from day to day, even for the undeserved treatment I have had here, and for the degraded aspect in which she has often seen me. Since Miss Wilfer rejected me, I have never again urged my suit, to the best of my belief, with a spoken syllable or a look. But I have never changed in my devotion to her, except⁠—if she will forgive my saying so⁠—that it is deeper than it was, and better founded.”