She thought there was no time like the present, and
attacked the sturdy old yeoman that very evening in the park, while
his heart was yet lifted up with the Squire's good cheer. Jack was a
little surprised at being drawn aside by her ladyship, but was not to
be flurried by such an honour: he was still more surprised by the
nature of her communication, and by this first intelligence of an
affair which had been passing under his eye. He listened, however,
with his usual gravity, as her ladyship represented the advantages of
the match, the good qualities of the girl, and the distress which she
had lately suffered: at length his eye began to kindle, and his hand
to play with the head of his cudgel. Lady Lillycraft saw that
something in the narrative had gone wrong, and hastened to mollify his
rising ire by reiterating the soft-hearted Phoebe's merit and
fidelity, and her great unhappiness; when old Ready-Money suddenly
interrupted her by exclaiming, that if Jack did not marry the wench,
he'd break every bone in his body! The match, therefore, is considered
a settled thing: Dame Tibbets and the housekeeper have made friends,
and drank tea together; and Phoebe has again recovered her good looks
and good spirits, and is carolling from morning till night like a
lark.
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