Page:Marriott Watson--Galloping Dick.djvu/135

 face? Foh! and I shall be jealous myself. But Lard, yes,” she says, simpering, “the child is right. My reputation is to lose. You must not pepper that with spots. O Lard, no. But if not to-night it shall be to-morrow, an’ it fit. Foh! yes.”

I looked at her a moment, and her tumultuous eyes, and then, “Sink me,” I cried, “tomorrow it shall be.”

I scarce know how I came out of the house and was got to bed, but the next morning I was up betimes and engaged with the affairs of the night. You must fancy that here was an odd predicament in the which to find myself. For the lady herself, I had scarce a doubt but she had settled a kind of affection upon me, and indeed I was no gallows-bird for looks, though the women were ever the worst element in my fortunes. But what set me pondering was this: that the bargain was composed deep in wine, and that whereas I was now considering of my position, her slugabed ladyship too might be biting her fingers at me and laughing all over. For the marriage itself, no doubt I had a mind