Mr.Corbet talked as much as either of the other two gentlemen; opposing and disputing on any side, as if to find out how much he could urge against received opinions.

Ellinor sat silent; her dark eyes flashing from time to time in vehement interest--sometimes in vehement indignation if Mr.Corbet, riding a-tilt at everyone, ventured to attack her father.

He saw how this course excited her, and rather liked pursuing it in consequence; he thought it only amused him.
Another way in which Ellinor and Mr.Corbet were thrown together occasionally was this: Mr.Ness and Mr.Wilkins shared the same _Times_ between them; and it was Ellinor's duty to see that the paper was regularly taken from her father's house to the parsonage.

Her father liked to dawdle over it.

Until Mr.Corbet had come to live with him, Mr.
Ness had not much cared at what time it was passed on to him; but the young man took a strong interest in all public events, and especially in all that was said about them.