“And perhaps may, some of these days, Cecilia.”
“Oh! do, Japhet. I will love her so.”
“You must wait a little first. I am not
quite so far advanced as you and Harcourt. I
have not received the consent of all parties, as you
have to-day. But I must now leave you. Harcourt,
I presume you will dine here. I must dine with
my governor.”
On my return, I found that the table was laid for
three, and that the general had asked Mr Masterton,
from which I augured well. Masterton could not
speak to me when he arrived, but he gave me a wink
and a smile, and I was satisfied. “Japhet,”
said my father, “you have no engagement to-morrow,
I hope, because I shall call at Mr Masterton’s
on business, and wish you to accompany me.”
I replied, that “I should be most happy,”
and the conversation became general.
I accompanied my father the next day to Lincoln’s
Inn, and when we went up, we found Mr Masterton at
the table with Mr Cophagus, and Susannah sitting apart
near the window. “The plot thickens,”
thought I. The fact was, as I was afterwards told
by Mr Masterton, he had prevailed upon Cophagus to
pretend business, and to bring Susannah with him, and
appointed them a quarter of an hour before our time.
This he had arranged, that the general might see Miss
Temple, as if by accident; and also allow me, who,
my father supposed, was not aware of Miss Temple being
in town, to meet with her. What a deal of humbug
there is in this world! Nothing but plot and
counterplot! I shook hands with Cophagus, who,
I perceived, had, notwithstanding his wife’s
veto, put on his blue cotton net pantaloons and Hessian
boots, and he appeared to be so tight in both, that
he could hardly move. As far as I could judge,
his legs had not improved since I had last seen them
in this his favourite dress.
“Mr De Benyon, I believe that you have met Miss
Temple before,” said Mr Masterton, winking at
me. “In Berkshire, was it not? Miss
Temple, allow me to introduce General De Benyon.”
I went up to Susannah, who coloured and trembled at
the sight of my father, as I expressed my hope that
she had been well since we last met. She perceived
that there was some planned scheme, and was so puzzled
that she said nothing. My father then spoke to
her, and after a short time took a chair, and seated
himself close to her. I never knew her make herself
so agreeable. He asked her where she was staying,
and when he heard that it was with Mr Cophagus, he
said that he should have the pleasure of calling upon
Mr Cophagus, and thank him for his kind information
relative to me. Shortly afterwards Cophagus took
his leave, and Susannah rose to accompany him, when
my father, hearing that they had walked, insisted
upon putting Miss Temple down in his carriage.
So that Mr Cophagus had to walk home one way, and
I the other.
