Are you telling me that you have kept me here unnecessarily ?" "Alas! my boy--I hoped that your affection for me might grow with this opportunity, as mine has grown for you." Tristram thought that to spend a morning in pacing from one window to another was an odd way of encouraging affection; but he merely answered: "My dear father, I have a confession to make." "A confession ?" "One that will not only explain my eagerness to get home, but also will, I trust, soothe your disappointment.

The fact is, I am in love." "Oh! that certainly alters matters.

With whom ?" "With Sophia." "Who is Sophia ?" "She is Captain Runacles' only daughter, and lives on the other side of our hedge." "My dear lad, why did you not tell me this?
Detain you! No.
You shall fly on the wings of the wind.

We will set out this very afternoon on the swiftest horses this inn can furnish." Tristram winced.

"There are limits even to a lover's zeal," he murmured.
"No, no.