'
'Surely there is no necessity for you to say one word, mama?' reasoned
Kate.
'You will allow me, my dear, if you please, to judge for myself,' said
Mrs Nickleby.
'Be mine, be mine!' cried the old gentleman.
'It can scarcely be expected, sir,' said Mrs Nickleby, fixing her eyes
modestly on the ground, 'that I should tell a stranger whether I feel
flattered and obliged by such proposals, or not. They certainly are made
under very singular circumstances; still at the same time, as far as
it goes, and to a certain extent of course' (Mrs Nickleby's customary
qualification), 'they must be gratifying and agreeable to one's
feelings.'
'Be mine, be mine,' cried the old gentleman. 'Gog and Magog, Gog and
Magog. Be mine, be mine!'
'It will be sufficient for me to say, sir,' resumed Mrs Nickleby, with
perfect seriousness--'and I'm sure you'll see the propriety of taking
an answer and going away--that I have made up my mind to remain a widow,
and to devote myself to my children. You may not suppose I am the mother
of two children--indeed many people have doubted it, and said that
nothing on earth could ever make 'em believe it possible--but it is the
case, and they are both grown up.
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