"But now that we have your society I don't care.

Your letters, of course, are delightful, but that is still better." In spite of this sympathetic statement Bernard cannot be said to have enjoyed his lunch; he was thinking of something else that lay before him and that was not agreeable.

He was like a man who has an acrobatic feat to perform--a wide ditch to leap, a high pole to climb--and who has a presentiment of fractures and bruises.

Fortunately he was not obliged to talk much, as Mrs.Gordon displayed even more than her usual vivacity, rendering her companions the graceful service of lifting the burden of conversation from their shoulders.
"I suppose you were surprised to see us rushing out here so suddenly," she observed in the course of the repast.

"We had said nothing about it when you last saw us, and I believe we are supposed to tell you everything, ain't we?
I certainly have told you a great many things, and there are some of them I hope you have n't repeated.