"
"He promised to send it me. He really did. Lady Rockminster gave me
twenty pounds----" gasps Laura.
"Under pretence of lace, you have been sending over a love-message. You
want to see whether Clive is still of his old mind. You think the coast
is now clear, and that dearest Ethel may like him. You think Mrs. Mason
is growing very old and infirm, and the sight of her dear boy would----"
"Pen! Pen! did you open my letter?" cries Laura; and a laugh which could
afford to be good-humoured (followed by yet another expression of the
lips) ended this colloquy. No; Mr Pendennis did not see the letter--but
he knew the writer;--flattered himself that he knew women in general.
"Where did you get your experience of them, sir?" asks Mrs. Laura.
Question answered in the same manner as the previous demand.
"Well, my dear; and why should not the poor boy be made happy?" Laura
continues, standing very close up to her husband. "It is evident to me
that Ethel is fond of him. I would rather see her married to a good young
man whom she loves, than the mistress of a thousand palaces and coronets.
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