"Don't do that again, Launce! It was while you were on deck smoking,
and when I was supposed to be fast asleep. I opened the ventilator in
my cabin door, dear, and I heard every word they said. He waited till my
aunt was out of the way, and he had got papa all to himself, and then he
began it in that horrible, downright voice of his--'Graybrooke! how much
longer am I to wait?'"
"Did he say that?"
"No more swearing, Launce! Those were the words. Papa didn't understand
them. He only said (poor dear!)--'Bless my soul, Richard, what do you
want?' Richard soon explained himself. 'Who could he be waiting for--but
Me?' Papa said something about my being so young. Richard stopped his
mouth directly. 'Girls were like fruit; some ripened soon, and some
ripened late. Some were women at twenty, and some were women at sixteen.
It was impossible to look at me, and not see that I was like a new being
after my two months at sea,' and so on and so on. Papa behaved like an
angel. He still tried to put it off. 'Plenty of time, Richard, plenty
of time.
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