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"Mrs. Wingfield! Mrs. Wingfield!" cried Bertram.
"Mr. Bertram! Mr. Bertram! were you a benedict, you would say my
forethought was sweetly touching."
"And here have I, a lonely bachelor," he continued; "been regretting
the non-existence of my Madame Bertram, though none could grace the
head of my table better than the lady now seated there."
"_Merci_," said Lady Esmondet, "you are such a host in yourself that
you leave us nothing to regret in the absence of Mrs. Bertram."
"Why," said Trevalyon sadly, in a low tone to Vaura; "why, will we
continually make a jest over those poor creatures unequally yoked
together."
"Very frequently, I think," she said softly, "to hide a deeper
feeling; though it hurts us painfully to do so."
"I vow I'd rather be a jolly old bachelor like Mr. Bertram, with
plenty of money, than husband to the Queen of Sheba, were she not
defunct," exclaimed Mrs. Wingfield.
"What a boon to men and society is a woman without marriageable
daughters," laughed Vaura.
"Yes," said Everly; "she can air her private opinions on the marriage
question.


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