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In the passage I met the nurse. She greeted me with a little smile; but I was mistrustful of professional cheerfulness that night. "Will you tell Mrs Inglethwaite or Miss Rubislaw that I have come in, please?" I said, and turned into the sitting-room.
"And how is my brother's second boy doing with you, Mr Inglethwaite?" I must have looked a trifle blank, for he added "My nephew, Robin." I glanced obliquely at the card which marked his place at table, and read Sir James Fordyce.
Hounded on by the relentless Cash, I spent the day in a final house-to-house canvass, being fortunate enough to find at home several gentlemen who had been out on previous occasions, and who now graciously permitted Kitty to present them with a resplendent portrait of what at first sight appeared to be a hairdresser's assistant in gala costume, but which an obtrusive inscription below proclaimed to be "Inglethwaite!
Samuel may have been a baptismal sprat set to catch a testamentary whale, but if this was so no legacy ever came my way. Personally, I am rather attached to the name, as I was called nothing else until I encountered the lady who ultimately consented to become Mrs Inglethwaite. Since that epoch in my career I have been S. Adrian Inglethwaite.
Kitty was completely out of her depth, but still maintained a brave appearance of interest. It was the Twins who brought the séance to a close. Placing their hands before their mouths, they with difficulty stifled a pair of cavernous yawns. Next moment they were sorry. Robin stopped dead, flushed up, and said "Mrs Inglethwaite, I am sorry. I have been most inconsiderate and rude.
I shook hands with countless folk, I addressed meetings of the unwashed at street corners, and received the plaudits or execrations of the multitude with equal serenity. Robin hastened away to the Hide-and-Tallow Works, whence, during the dinner-hour, he charmed many an oleaginous elector to come and plump for Inglethwaite, the Man Whom He Knew and Who Knew Him.
Schemes for the improvement of some of the houses not snug little cribs like this, but the homes of people who are not so clever and able to take care of themselves as you and the supplying of more amusements in the evenings; entertainments, lectures " "Teetotal?" inquires Mr Gulching hoarsely. "Oh dear, no. I am sure Mr Inglethwaite would not wish to deprive any one of his glass of beer.
He announced with a shake of the head that my rival was a very strong candidate; and finally, after a certain amount of pressing, admitted that I was not altogether as universally acceptable to my own side as I might have been. "You are not violent enough, Mr Inglethwaite," he said. "You sympathise too much with the point of view of the opposite side. That's fatal." I turned to Robin.
Whether through natural modesty or a desire to escape the assaults of the wind, the two ladies shrank back so closely into the door that that accommodating portal, evidently deeming it ungallant to wait even for a golden key under such circumstances, incontinently flew open, and Mesdames Inglethwaite and Stridge subsided gracefully into the arms of a spectacled and embarrassed Librarian, who was formally waiting inside to receive the company at the proper moment.
"We will each propose one," I said, "right round the table in turn. Ladies first! Yours, Kitty? I suppose it will be Philly eh?" Kitty nodded. "Ladies and gentlemen," I announced, "you are asked to drink to the speedy recovery of Miss Phillis Inglethwaite. This toast is proposed by her mother, and seconded by her father." The toast was drunk with all sincerity, but soberly, as befitted.
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