'
'Well, sir?'
'The Reverend Mr Larynx has been called off on duty, to marry or bury
(I don't know which) some unfortunate person or persons, at Claydyke:
but man is born to trouble!'
'Is that all?'
'No. Mr Toobad is gone too, and a strange lady with him.'
'Gone!'
'Gone. And Mr and Mrs Hilary, and Miss O'Carroll: they are all gone.
There is nobody left but Mr Asterias and his son, and they are going
to-night.'
'Then I have lost them both.'
'Won't you come to dinner?'
'No.'
'Shall I bring your dinner here?'
'Yes.'
'What will you have?'
'A pint of port and a pistol.'[14]
'A pistol!'
'And a pint of port. I will make my exit like Werter. Go. Stay. Did
Miss O'Carroll say any thing?'
'No.'
'Did Miss Toobad say any thing?'
'The strange lady? No.'
'Did either of them cry?'
'No.'
'What did they do?'
'Nothing.'
'What did Mr Toobad say?'
'He said, fifty times over, the devil was come among us.'
'And they are gone?'
'Yes; and the dinner is getting cold. There is a time for every
thing under the sun. You may as well dine first, and be miserable
afterwards.'
'True, Raven. There is something in that. I will take your advice:
therefore, bring me----'
'The port and the pistol?'
'No; the boiled fowl and Madeira.
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