"I say," continued Jack, "that I--we--utterly forbid you to see or hear from the fellow again."
"And pray, sir, what have you against him?" says she softly,--only her slender foot tapped a little faster.
"Everything!" says Jack.
"Which is as much as to say--nothing!" she retorted.
"I say," cried Jack, "the man you come to marry shall be a man and not a mincing exquisite with no ideas beyond the cut of his coat."
"And," says I, "a man of position, and no led-captain with an eye to your money, or needy adventurer hunting a dowry, Pen."
"Oh!" she sighed, "how cruelly you misjudge him! And you, Uncle Bentley, what have you to say?"
"That whoso he be, we would have him in all things worthy of thee, Pen."
"Aye!" nodded Jack, "so my lass, forego this whim--no more o' this Tawnish fellow--forget him."
"Forget!" says she, "how lightly you say it! Oh, prithee don't you see that I am a child no longer--don't you understand?"
"Pooh!" cries Jack. "Fiddle-de-dee! What-a-plague! This fellow is no fit mate for our Pen, a stranger whom nobody knows! a languid fop! a pranked-out, patched and powdered puppy-dog! So Penelope, let there be an end on't!"
Pen's little foot had ceased its tattoo, but her eyes were bright and her cheeks glowed when she spoke again.
"Oh!" says she, scornfully. "Oh, most noble, most fair-minded gentlemen--all three of you, to condemn thus, out of hand, one of whom you know nothing, and without allowing him one word in his own behalf! Aye, hang your heads! Oh, 'tis most unworthy of you--you whom I have ever held to be in all things most just and honourable!"
And here she turned her back fairly upon us and crossed to the window, while we looked at one another but with never a word betwixt us; wherefore she presently went on again.
"And yet," says she, and now her voice was grown wonderfully tender, "you all loved the mother I never knew--loved her passing well, and, for her sake, have borne with my foolish whims all these years, and given me a place deep within your hearts. And because of this," says she, turning and coming back to us, "yes, because of this I love thee, Uncle Dick!" Here she stooped and kissed me (God bless her). "And you too, Uncle Bentley!" Here she kissed Bentley. "And you, dear, tender father!" Here she kissed Jack. "Indeed," she sighed, "methinks I love you all far more than either of you, being only men, can ever understand. But because I am a woman, needs must I do as my heart bids me in this matter, or despise myself utterly. As for the worth of this gentleman, oh! think you I am so little credit to your upbringing as not to know the real from the base? Ah! trust me! And indeed I know this for a very noble gentleman, and what's more, I will never--never--wed any other than this gentleman!" So saying, she sobbed once, and turning about, sped from the room, banging the door behind her.