He took up what Horace had left of the bottle of claret, and poured it into a glass.

"My aunt's claret shall represent my aunt for the present," he said, smiling, as he turned toward her once more.

"I have had a long walk, and I may venture to help myself in this house without invitation.

Is it useless to offer you anything ?" Mercy made the necessary reply.

She was beginning already, after her remarkable experience of him, to wonder at his easy manners and his light way of talking.
He emptied his glass with the air of a man who thoroughly understood and enjoyed good wine.