His first impression was that Ratcliffe wanted to buy him; to tie his tongue; to make him run, like a fastened dog, under the waggon of the Secretary of the Treasury.

His second notion was that Ratcliffe wanted to put Mrs.
Lee under obligations, in order to win her regard; and, again, that he wanted to raise himself in her esteem by posing as a friend of honest administration and unassisted virtue.

Then suddenly it occurred to him that the scheme was to make him appear jealous and vindictive; to put him in an attitude where any reason he might give for declining would bear a look of meanness, and tend to separate him from Mrs.Lee.
Carrington was so absorbed by these thoughts, and his mind worked so slowly, that he failed to hear one or two remarks addressed to him by Mrs.Lee, who became a little alarmed, under the impression that he was unexpectedly paralyzed.
When at length he heard her and attempted to frame an answer, his embarrassment increased.

He could only stammer that he was sorry to be obliged to decline, but this office was one he could not undertake.
If Madeleine felt a little relieved by this decision, she did not show it.
From her manner one might have supposed it to be her fondest wish that Carrington should be Solicitor of the Treasury.

She cross-questioned him with obstinacy.