'George,' said Mr Kenwigs, solemnly, 'none of that, if you please.'
'It was only my joke,' said the friend, abashed.
'George,' rejoined Mr Kenwigs, 'a joke is a wery good thing--a wery
good thing--but when that joke is made at the expense of Mrs Kenwigs's
feelings, I set my face against it. A man in public life expects to
be sneered at--it is the fault of his elewated sitiwation, and not of
himself. Mrs Kenwigs's relation is a public man, and that he knows,
George, and that he can bear; but putting Mrs Kenwigs out of the
question (if I COULD put Mrs Kenwigs out of the question on such an
occasion as this), I have the honour to be connected with the collector
by marriage; and I cannot allow these remarks in my--' Mr Kenwigs was
going to say 'house,' but he rounded the sentence with 'apartments'.
At the conclusion of these observations, which drew forth evidences
of acute feeling from Mrs Kenwigs, and had the intended effect of
impressing the company with a deep sense of the collector's dignity, a
ring was heard at the bell.
'That's him,' whispered Mr Kenwigs, greatly excited. 'Morleena, my dear,
run down and let your uncle in, and kiss him directly you get the door
open.
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