t deny; only I baint agoin'
the whole hog all at once. I'm none o' they sort. He'll find I baint.'

Here Mary Quince coughed demurely from the foot of the stair, to remind me
that the conversation was protracted.

'I don't very well understand,' I said gravely; 'and I am now going
upstairs.'

'Don't jest a minute, Miss; it's only a word, ye see. We'll be goin' t'
Australia, Sary Mangles, an' me, aboard the _Seamew_, on the 5th. I'm
for Liverpool to-night, and she'll meet me there, an'--an', please God
Almighty, ye'll never see me more; an I'd rather gi'e ye a lift, Maud,
before I go: an' I tell ye what, if ye'll just gi'e me your written promise
ye'll gi'e me that twenty thousand ye were offering to gi'e the Governor,
I'll take ye cleverly out o' Bartram, and put ye wi' your cousin Knollys,
or anywhere ye like best.'

'Take me from Bartram--for twenty thousand pounds! Take me away from my
guardian! You seem to forget, sir,' my indignation rising as I spoke, 'that
I can visit my cousin, Lady Knollys, whenever I please.'

'Well, that is as it may be,' he said, with a sulky deliberation, scraping
about a little bit of paper that lay on the floor with the toe of his boot.

'It _is_ as it may be, and that is as I say, sir; and considering how you
have treated me--your mean, treacherous, and infamous suit, and your cruel
treason to your poor wife, I am amazed at your effrontery.'

I turned to leave him, being, in truth, in one of my passions.

'Don't ye be a flying' out,' he said peremptorily, and catching me roughly
by the wrist,' I baint a-going to vex ye. What a mouth you be, as can't see
your way! Can't ye speak wi' common sense, like a woman--dang it--for once,
and not keep brawling like a brat--can't ye see what I'm saying? I'll take
ye out o' all this, and put ye wi' your cousin, or wheresoever you list, if
ye'll gi'e me what I say.'

He was, for the first time, looking me in the face, but with contracted
eyes, and a countenance very much agitated.

'Money?' said I, with a prompt disdain.

'Ay, money--twenty thousand pounds--_there_. On or off?' he replied, with
an unpleasant sort of effort.

'You ask my promise for twenty thousand pounds, and you shan't have it.'

My cheeks were flaming, and I stamped on the ground as I spoke.

If he had known how to appeal to my better feelings, I am sure I should
have done, perhaps not quite that, all at once at least, but something
handsome, to assist him. But this a