"
Here came another effusion, accompanied with a very distracted blow of
the nose.
"That must have been very distressing to you, madam; he must have been
extremely fond of such a very pretty wife."
"O sir, he doted alive upon me, as I did upon him--poor, darling old
Paul."
"Ah, he was old, was he?"
"Yes, sir, and left me very rich."
"But what do you wish me to do for you?"
"Why, sir, he was very fond of money; was, in fact, a--a--kind of miser
in his way. My father and mother forced me to marry the dear old man,
and I did so to please them; but at the same time he was very kind in
his manner to me--indeed, so kind that he allowed me a shilling a month
for pocket money."
"Well, but what is your object in coming to me?"
"Why, sir, to ask your opinion on a case of great difficulty."
"Very well, madam; you shall have the best opinion in the known world
upon the subject--that is, as soon as I hear it. Speak out without
hesitation, and conceal nothing."
"Why, sir, the poor dear man before his death--ah, that ever my darling
old Paul should have been taken away from me!--the poor dear man,
before his death--ahem--before his death--O, ah,"--here came another
effusion--"began to--to--to--get jealous of me with a young man in the
neighborhood that--that--I was fond of before I married my dear old
Paul.
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