t he had never put the question. To his thinking it would not
have been becoming to do so without some ceremony. Buston was not to be
made away during the turnings of a quadrille or as a part of an ordinary
conversation. It was not probable,--nay, it was impossible,--that he
should mention the subject to any one; but still he must visibly prepare
for it, and I think that he was aware that the world around him knew
what he was about.

And the Thoroughbung's knew, and Miss Matilda Thoroughbung knew well.
All Buntingford knew. In those old days in which he had sought the hand
of the baronet's daughter, the baronet's daughter, and the baronet's
wife, and the baronet himself, had known what was coming, though Mr.
Prosper thought that the secret dwelt alone in his own bosom. Nor did he
dream now that Harry and Harry's father, and Harry's mother and sisters,
had all laughed at the conspicuous gravity of his threat. It was the
general feeling on the subject which made the rumor current that the
deed had been done. But when he came down-stairs with one new gray
kid-glove on, and the other dangling in his hand, nothing had been done.

"Drive to Buntingford," said the squire.

"Yes, sir," said Matthew, the door of the carriage in his hand.

"To Marmaduke Lodge."

"Yes, sir." Then Matthew told the coachman, who had heard the
instructions very plainly, and knew them before he had heard them. The
squire threw himself back in the carriage, and applied himself to
wondering how he should do the deed. He had, in truth, barely studied
the words,--but not, finally, the manner of delivering them. With his
bare hand up to his eyes so that he might hold the glove unsoiled in the
other, he devoted his intellect to the task; nor did he withdraw his
hand till the carriage turned in at the gate. The drive up to the door
of Marmaduke Lodge was very short, and he had barely time to arrange his
waistcoat and his whiskers before the carriage stood still. He was soon
told that Miss Thoroughbung was at home, and within a moment he found
himself absolutely standing on the carpet in her presence.

Report had dealt unkindly with Miss Thoroughbung in the matter of her
age. Report always does deal unkindly with unmarried young women who
have ceased to be girls. There is an idea that they will wish to make
themselves out to be younger than they are, and therefore report always
makes them older. She had been called forty-five, and even fifty. Her
exact