After cautioning her to be
more careful in future I parted from the damsel (who to the last
protested her gratitude) and walked homeward to my lodgings, on the
way reflecting how frail a thing is woman when matched against man
the libertine."
Billy Priske's eyes had grown round in his head. Mr. Badcock, after
sitting in thought for a full minute, observed that the incident was
peculiar in many respects.
"Is that the end of the yarn?" I asked.
"I never met the lady again," confessed Mr. Fett. "As for the
story," he added with a sigh, "I am accustomed to have it
disbelieved. Yet let me tell you this. On my return I related it to
the company, who received it with various degrees of incredulity--all
but a youthful stroller who had joined us at Banbury and earned
promotion, on the strength of his looks, from 'walking gentleman' to
what is known in the profession as 'first lover.' On the strength of
this, again, he had somewhat hastily aspired to the hand of our
leading tragedy lady--a mature person, who knew her own mind.
My narrative seemed to dispel the atmosphere of gloom which had hung
about him for some days; and the next morning, having promised to
accompany his betrothed on a stroll up the river bank, he left the
inn with a light, almost jaunty, tread.
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