Flood Jones. "What a pleasure it must be to the
doctor and Mrs. Finn to see you come back in this way," said Mrs.
Flood Jones.
"With all my bones unbroken?" said he, laughing.
"Yes; with all your bones unbroken. You know, Phineas, when we
first heard that you were to sit in Parliament, we were afraid that
you might break a rib or two,--since you choose to talk about the
breaking of bones."
"Yes, I know. Everybody thought I should come to grief; but nobody
felt so sure of it as I did myself."
"But you have not come to grief."
"I am not out of the wood yet, you know, Mrs. Flood Jones. There is
plenty of possibility for grief in my way still."
"As far as I can understand it, you are out of the wood. All that
your friends here want to see now is, that you should marry some nice
English girl, with a little money, if possible. Rumours have reached
us, you know."
"Rumours always lie," said Phineas.
"Sometimes they do, of course; and I am not going to ask any
indiscreet questions. But that is what we all hope. Mary was saying,
only the other day, that if you were once married, we should all
feel quite safe about you. And you know we all take the most lively
interest in your welfare. It is not every day that a man from County
Clare gets on as you have done, and therefore we are bound to think
of you.
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