'There, there--that will do; your honour and word as a gentleman--and
_that_ you are, though a poor one--will quite satisfy your cousin Maud. Am
I right, my dear? I do assure you, as a gentleman, I never knew him to say
the thing that was not.'
So Mr. Dudley Ruthyn began, not to curse, but to swear, in the prescribed
form, that he had never seen me before, or the places I had named, 'since I
was weaned, by----'
'That's enough--now shake hands, if you won't kiss, like cousins,'
interrupted my uncle.
And very uncomfortably I did lend him my hand to shake.
'You'll want some supper, Dudley, so Maud and I will excuse your going.
Good-night, my dear boy,' and he smiled and waved him from the room.
'That's as fine a young fellow, I think, as any English father can boast
for his son--true, brave, and kind, and quite an Apollo. Did you observe
how finely proportioned he is, and what exquisite features the fellow has?
He's rustic and rough, as you see; but a year or two in the militia--I've a
promise of a commission for him--he's too old for the line--will form and
polish him. He wants nothing but manner; and I protest when he has had a
little drilling of that kind, I do believe he'll be as pretty a fellow as
you'd find in England.
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