The Secretary smiled with some bitterness, as though he would have said, “So I see and hear.”
“It was sheer insolence in you, I tell you,” said Mr. Boffin, “even to think of this young lady. This young lady was far above you . This young lady was no match for you . This young lady was lying in wait (as she was qualified to do) for money, and you had no money.”
Bella hung her head and seemed to shrink a little from Mr. Boffin’s protecting arm.
“What are you, I should like to know,” pursued Mr. Boffin, “that you were to have the audacity to follow up this young lady? This young lady was looking about the market for a good bid; she wasn’t in it to be snapped up by fellows that had no money to lay out; nothing to buy with.”
“Oh, Mr. Boffin! Mrs. Boffin, pray say something for me!” murmured Bella, disengaging her arm, and covering her face with her hands.
“Old lady,” said Mr. Boffin, anticipating his wife, “you hold your tongue. Bella, my dear, don’t you let yourself be put out. I’ll right you.”
“But you don’t, you don’t right me!” exclaimed Bella, with great emphasis. “You wrong me, wrong me!”
“Don’t you be put out, my dear,” complacently retorted Mr. Boffin. “I’ll bring this young man to book. Now, you Rokesmith! You can’t decline to hear, you know, as well as to answer. You hear me tell you that the first side of your conduct was insolence—insolence and presumption. Answer me one thing, if you can. Didn’t this young lady tell you so herself?”
“Did I, Mr. Rokesmith?” asked Bella with her face still covered. “O say, Mr. Rokesmith! Did I?”