“Mrs. Witherington is rather subject to this sort of nervous fits, and she has been much harassed of late by grief and apprehension. When she recovers from them it is a few minutes before she can collect her ideas, and during such intervals--to speak very confidentially to you, my dear Doctor Hartley--she speaks sometimes about imaginary events which have never happened, and sometimes about distressing occurrences in an early period of life. I am not, therefore, willing that any one but myself, or her old attendant Mrs. Lopez, should be with her on such occasions.” Hartley admitted that a certain degree of light-headedness was often the consequence of nervous fits. The General proceeded. “As to this young man--this friend of yours--this Richard Middlemas--did you not call him so?” “Not that I recollect,” answered Hartley; “but your Excellency has hit upon his name.” “That is odd enough--Certainly you said something about Middlemas?” replied General Witherington. “I mentioned the name of the town,” said Hartley. “Ay, and I caught it up as the name of the recruit--I was indeed occupied at the moment by my anxiety about my wife. But this Middlemas, since such is his name, is a wild young fellow, I suppose?” “I should do him wrong to say so, your Excellency. He may have had his follies like other young men; but his conduct has, so far as I know, been respectable; but, considering we lived in the same house, we were not very intimate.” “That is bad--I should have liked him--that is--it would have been happy for him to have had a friend like you. But I suppose you studied too hard for him. He would be a soldier, ha?--Is he good-looking?” “Remarkably so,” replied Hartley; “and has a very prepossessing manner.” “Is his complexion dark or fair?” asked the General. “Rather uncommonly dark,” said Hartley,--“darker, if I may use the freedom, than your Excellency's.” “Nay, then, he must be a black ouzel, indeed!--Does he understand languages?” “Latin and French tolerably well.” “Of course he cannot fence or dance?” “Pardon me, sir, I am no great judge; but Richard is reckoned to do both with uncommon skill.” “Indeed!--Sum this up, and it sounds well. Handsome, accomplished in exercises, moderately learned, perfectly well-bred, not unreasonably wild. All this comes too high for the situation of a private sentinel. He must have a commission, Doctor--entirely for your sake.” “Your Excellency is generous.”