"How is he, how is he?" asked the sheriff. "Had I thought of it, I would have passed that way myself; but I have so many matters jostling each other in my mind just now, that one half of them escape notice or remembrance in the crowd." "The man, I hope, is likely to do well," observed Mr. Thornton. "The good doctor extracted a second ball just now; but I think Bessy was the best doctor of the two, for she sang him to sleep, though he had not been able to close an eye for the last twenty-four hours. It was not the best compliment to your song, my dear niece, to fall asleep over it; but I dare say it will do him a great deal of good." "It was the best compliment I could wish him to pay me," replied Bessy; "for it was that at which the song was aimed. But you gentlemen, my good uncle, often think that we women are seeking for compliments when nothing is less in our thoughts. Besides, I would never think of seeking one in your presence, being sure that you would spoil it before it reached me." In such conversation, with the agreeable accessories of eating and drinking, and the pleasant, soporific sort of consciousness of being once more in a comfortable chair in a comfortable house, and safe amidst all the charming little luxuries of civilized life, three-quarters of an hour passed away very quietly, and then Mr. Henry Thornton rose to depart. I walked by the side of his horse for some way along the road, pretending to myself to desire much to know what were the matters of business which he wished to discuss with me the next day; but, in reality, much more anxious to ascertain what was the cause of a certain gravity which had tinged his manner, when I had vaguely hinted at the possibility of Bessy Davenport becoming my wife. He did not easily take my hints; but, at length, I came so nearly to the plain question, that he could neither mistake, nor affect to mistake, my meaning. "The truth is, my friend," he said, "Bessy believes that there are insuperable obstacles; and depend upon it, she does not think so without cause. She is very tenacious in her resolutions; but she always believes, at least, that they are founded on good motives and sound reasons; for, lively and playful as her manner is, I know nobody who is at heart less of a coquette than Bessy Davenport. Before deciding in this instance, she put several questions to me by letter; in answer to which I was obliged to tell her the truth, although she did not conceal from me, that the reply which I was forced to make might greatly affect her own happiness." "Would there be any objection to your telling me the question she put to you?" I asked.