‘Goodness gracious me, Frederick,’ exclaimed the old lady, ‘but never mind, I suppose if they think nothing of putting off their visit to the dear Archdeacon, I mustn’t bother about it; still it is too bad of them.’ ‘O no, Aunt, it’s very good of them,’ said Freddy, ‘think how they’ll liven up the place.’ ‘I don’t doubt that for a minute,’ said Aunt Julia, and snapped her teeth with unusual decision. ‘Are you out in Chambers or in the College, Mr. Cockerel?’ enquired the Bugg with a pleasant smile. ‘I’m sorry to say it’s my last year, Miss Bugg,’ I replied, ‘and I’m out in digs, you must come and see them some day.’ ‘I should love it,’ replied the companion with a rapturous gaze at the electric light. ‘My dear Ophelia,’ interjected a warning voice from the top of the table, ‘you can’t go without a chaperon!’ At this remark I heard a suppressed gurgle beside me and turned in time to see Freddy hide his face in a napkin, while a soup spoon waved feebly in his nerveless fingers. Squiff, however, who has marvellous self-control, relieved the situation by complimenting Lady Blitherington on the possession of Jacob. ‘The smartest little King Charles I have ever seen,’ he said with apparent sincerity. ‘Ah! Mr. O’Rossa, Ophelia will be pleased to hear you say that,’ said the old lady, ‘she has tended that dog like a baby for the last ten years.’ ‘Do you care for dogs, Mr. O’Rossa?’ queried the Bugg. ‘I’m very fond of them, Miss Bugg,’ he replied, ‘I keep several at home.’ ‘How nice,’ said the Bugg feelingly, ‘then you must try White Rose soap with them, I’ll give you a cake of it, there’s nothing better.’ ‘I should be surprised,’ said Squiff emphatically. Ophelia, however, did not appear to be troubled by the inanity of his reply, but immediately passed on to discussing the ‘rowing races’ with Freddy, who gave her exceedingly novel explanations of those innocent affairs. ‘I suppose, Mr. Cochrane,’ said Lady Blitherington to me with a kindly smile, ‘I suppose you may stay out till ten o’clock?’ ‘Certainly, Lady Blitherington,’ I assented, but forbore to mention how far she had undershot the mark. ‘Very well, then I will order tea for you before you go. I suppose you like tea after dinner, Mr. O’Rossa?’ ‘Very much, indeed, my Lady,’ said Squiff, courteously, ‘I esteem it immensely;’ and this answer appeared to agitate Freddy afresh, as he doubtless reflected that Squiff never touches anything milder than Green Chartreuse after dinner except on very rare occasions, when he condescends to a cup of thick Turkish coffee at the Trocadero. Before Freddy had reappeared from the shelter of his napkin, Miss Bugg, who had been endeavouring to shew me a new way of preparing strawberries with a steel knife, cut herself, and left the dining room in great haste, but we soon followed, and found her seated in an arm-chair, with Jacob fast asleep in her lap and the promised cake of White Rose soap in their immediate neighbourhood.