"I wonder," she said, "I wonder.... Well, Mr. Richard Maynadier, we shall see if you cannot be taught to have the inclination." II SIR EDWARD PARKINGTON That night, the Annapolis Coffee-house was unusually popular. The General Assembly was in session, and representatives of all the prominent families of the Colony were in attendance. The Maryland Gazette had just appeared, announcing that it would not print Samuel Chase's answer, to the Mayor and Aldermen of the City, lest it be libelous, and that Chase could issue it himself. The whole controversy was of little moment and aimed at nothing. Nevertheless, it had stirred up all the latent ill feeling, that had existed for some time between Chase and his followers, on one hand, and the old residents of Annapolis, on the other. "Chase always was a firebrand!" exclaimed young Mr. Paca; "some day, he will ignite the magazine on which he is sitting, and blow himself up." "And the quicker he does it the better," suggested Mr. Hammond. "Chase has ability, but he does not use it for good." "That is what gives me no patience with him," said Mr. Worthington. "He plays to the rabble--a queer trait for the son of a clergyman of the Church of England." "It is all for effect," said Mr. Paca; "to get clients, to get prominence; down in his heart he has the same view as we have." "That's it," said Mr. Cole, who was a bit the worse for liquor. "The fellow isn't honest." "Who is not honest?" asked a medium-sized, heavy-set man of twenty-five, who had entered the room unnoticed. "You!" returned Cole. "You don't believe what you say; you are playing to the rabble." Chase looked at Cole closely for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "I do not argue with a drunken man, much less quarrel with one," he said. "Do any of you other gentlemen endorse his words?" "Not as spoken," said Mr. Paca; "but what we did say, is that we do not endorse your course as an official. You are the Public Prosecutor, and we do not approve of the way you use your office.--That we said, and that we stand behind." "I am very sorry if I have not pleased you," said Chase, indifferently, taking a chair beside Paca; "I understand that a public official is a free subject for criticism, and the public may impugn his motives and his judgment--with that I find no fault." "You said I was drunk," exclaimed Cole. "Did I?" said Chase. "Well, you're not--you're not. I was mistaken. I apologize." "It's granted," said Cole. "Have a drink with me.--Everybody have a drink with me. Here, Sparrow--where the devil's the fellow--take the gentlemen's orders.--Ah! sir," as a stranger appeared in the doorway, "come in; we're just going to have a drink. What will _you_ have?" The newcomer let his eyes rest, casually, on Cole. "Permit me to decline," he said; "I was looking for some one." "Your pardon, sir," said Mr. Paca, stepping forward; "are you not Sir Edward Parkington?" "I am," he said; "at your service."