This he carried to the colonel, with a lie in his
mouth that the recording angel blotted out the moment it fell from his
lips.
"Here's some change, Marsa George, I forgot to gib ye; been left ober
from de marketin'."
And the colonel gathered it all in, and went out and spent every penny
of it on roses for "dear Nancy!"
All of these things, as I have said, had acted like a tonic on the
colonel, bracing him up to renewed efforts, and reacting on his guests,
who in return did their best to make the breakfast a merry one.
Fitz, always delightful, was more brilliant than ever, his native wit,
expressed in a brogue with verbal shadings so slight that it is hardly
possible to give it in print, keeping the table in a roar; while Miss
Nancy, encouraged by the ease and freedom of everybody about her,
forgot for a time her quiet reserve, and was charming in the way she
turned over the leaves of her own youthful experiences.
And so the talk went on until, with a smile to everybody, the little
lady rose, called Chad, who stood ready with shawl and cushion, and,
saying she would retire to her room until the gentlemen had finished
smoking, disappeared through the doorway.
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