eat what, I never could say, for here the poor thing's eyes filled
with tears; and Lady Drum crying out "Tut, tut! none of this nonsense,"
pulled her away by the sleeve, and went upstairs. But little Lady Fanny
walked boldly up to me, and held me out her little hand, and gave mine
such a squeeze and said, "Good-bye, my dear Mr. Titmarsh," so very
kindly, that I'm blest if I did not blush up to the ears, and all the
blood in my body began to tingle.

So, when she was gone, I clapped my hat on my head, and walked out of the
hall-door, feeling as proud as a peacock and as brave as a lion; and all
I wished for was that one of those saucy grinning footmen should say or
do something to me that was the least uncivil, so that I might have the
pleasure of knocking him down, with my best compliments to his master.
But neither of them did me any such favour! and I went away and dined at
home off boiled mutton and turnips with Gus Hoskins quite peacefully.

I did not think it was proper to tell Gus (who, between ourselves, is
rather curious, and inclined to tittle-tattle) all the particulars of the
family quarrel of which I had been the cause and witness, and so just
said that the old lady--("They were the Drum arms," says Gus; "for I went
and looked them out that minute in the 'Peerage'")--that the old lady
turned out to be a cousin of mine, and that she had taken me to drive in
the Park. Next day we went to the office as usual, when you may be sure
that Hoskins told everything of what had happened, and a great deal more;
and somehow, though I did not pretend to care sixpence about the matter,
I must confess that I _was_ rather pleased that the gents in our office
should hear of a part of my adventure.

But fancy my surprise, on coming home in the evening, to find Mrs. Stokes
the landlady, Miss Selina Stokes her daughter, and Master Bob Stokes her
son (an idle young vagabond that was always playing marbles on St.
Bride's steps and in Salisbury Square),--when I found them all bustling
and tumbling up the steps before me to our rooms on the second floor, and
there, on the table, between our two flutes on one side, my album, Gus's
"Don Juan" and "Peerage" on the other, I saw as follows:--

1. A basket of great red peaches, looking like the cheeks of my dear
Mary Smith.

2. A ditto of large, fat, luscious, heavy-looking grapes.

3. An enormous piece of raw mutton, as I thought it was; but Mrs. Stokes
said it was the primest