But
then his darling's gay talk and pleasant ways would reassure him, and
she smiled away the momentary shadow.
And he would tell her all sorts of wonders, old-world gaieties, long
before she was born; and how finely the great Mr. Handel played upon the
harpsichord in the Music Hall, and how his talk was in German, Latin,
French, English, Italian, and half-a-dozen languages besides, sentence
about; and how he remembered his own dear mother's dress when she went
to Lord Wharton's great ball at the castle--dear, oh! dear, how long ago
that was! And then he would relate stories of banshees, and robberies,
and ghosts, and hair-breadth escapes, and 'rapparees,' and adventures in
the wars of King James, which he heard told in his nonage by the old
folk, long vanished, who remembered those troubles.
'And now, darling,' said little Lily, nestling close to him, with a
smile, 'you _must_ tell me all about that strange, handsome Mr. Mervyn;
who he is, and what his story.'
'Tut, tut! little rogue----'
'Yes, indeed, you must, and you will; you've kept your little Lily
waiting long enough for it, and she'll promise to tell nobody.
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