"I repeat, sir, you must come trespassing here, to bow--I say bah!
and scrape--"
"I say tush!" interpolated the Duchess demurely.
"To an old--"
"Painted!" suggested the Duchess.
"Hum!" said the Captain, a little hipped, "I say--ha!--lady, sir--"
"With a wig!" added the Duchess.
"And with a young and handsome,--I say a handsome and roguish pair
of eyes, sir, that need no artificial aids, mam, nor ever will!"
"Three!" cried the Duchess, clapping her hands. "Oh, Jack! Jack
Chumly! you, like myself, improve with age! As a midshipman you were
too callow, as a lieutenant much too old and serious, but now that
you are a battered and wrinkled young captain, you can pay as pretty
a compliment as any other gallant youth. Actually three in one hour,
Mr. Beverley."
"Compliments, mam!" snorted the Captain, with an angry flap of his
empty sleeve, "Compliments, I scorn 'em! I say pish, mam,--I say bah!
I speak only the truth, mam, as well you know."
"Four!" cried the Duchess, with a gurgle of youthful laughter.
"Oh, Jack! Jack! I protest, as you sit there you are growing more
youthful every minute."
"Gad so, mam! then I'll go before I become a mewling infant--I say a
puling brat, mam.
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