Oh, how happy I
am!"
"But still I must speak to him before I go. When can I see him, my
Ellinor? I must go back to town at four o'clock."
"I heard his voice in the stable-yard only just before you came. Let me
go and find out if he is gone to the office yet."
No! to be sure he was not gone. He was quietly smoking a cigar in his
study, sitting in an easy-chair near the open window, and leisurely
glancing at all the advertisements in _The Times_. He hated going to the
office more and more since Dunster had become a partner; that fellow gave
himself such airs of investigation and reprehension.
He got up, took the cigar out of his mouth, and placed a chair for Mr.
Corbet, knowing well why he had thus formally prefaced his entrance into
the room with a--
"Can I have a few minutes' conversation with you, Mr. Wilkins?"
"Certainly, my dear fellow. Sit down. Will you have a cigar?"
"No! I never smoke." Mr. Corbet despised all these kinds of
indulgences, and put a little severity into his refusal, but quite
unintentionally; for though he was thankful he was not as other men, he
was not at all the person to trouble himself unnecessarily with their
reformation.
"I want to speak to you about Ellinor. She says she thinks you must be
aware of our mutual attachment."
"Well," said Mr. Wilkins--he had resumed his cigar, partly to conceal his
agitation at what he knew was coming--"I believe I have had my
suspicions.
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