PASSAGE IN THE LIFE OF MR. WATKINS TOTTLE. 21 



if dinner had not been that moment announced. Mr. Watkins Tot- 

 tie,, with an unprecedented effort of gallantry, offered the tip of his 

 little finger ; Miss Lillerton accepted it gracefully, with maiden mo- 

 desty ; and they proceeded in due state to the dinner table, where 

 they were soon deposited side by side. The room was very snug, the 

 dinner very good, and the little party in tolerable spirits. The con- 

 versation became pretty general, and when Mr. Watkins Tottle had 

 extracted one or two cold observations from his neighbour, and taken 

 wine with her, he began to acquire confidence rapidly. The cloth 

 was removed ; Mrs. Gabriel Parsons drank four glasses of port,, on 

 the plea of her being a nurse just then, and Miss Lillerton took about 

 the same number of sips, on the plea of her not wanting any at all. 

 At length the ladies retired, to the great gratification of Mr. Gabriel 

 Parsons, who had been coughing, and frowning at his wife, for half 

 an hour previously signals which Mrs. Parsons never happened to 

 observe, until she had been pressed to take her ordinary quantum, 

 which, to avoid giving trouble, she always did at once. 



"What do you think of her?" enquired Mr. Gabriel Parsons of 

 Mr. Watkins Tottle, in an under tone. 



" I doat on her with enthusiasm already/' replied Mr. Watkins 

 Tottle. 



"Gentlemen, pray let us drink ' the ladies,' " said the Reverend Mr. 

 Tim son. 



"The ladies !" said Mr. Watkins Tottle, emptying his glass. In 

 the fullness of his confidence he felt as if he could make love to a 

 dozen ladies, off hand. 



"Ah!" said Mr. Gabriel Parsons, "I remember when I was a 

 younger man fill your glass, Timson." 



" I have this moment emptied it." 



" Then fill again." 



11 1 will," said Timson, readily suiting the action to the word. 



" I remember," resumed Mr. Gabriel Parsons, " when I was a 

 younger man, with what a strange compound of feelings I used to 

 drink that toast, and how I used to think that every woman was an 

 angel quite a superior being." 



" Was that before you were married ?" mildly inquired Mr. Wat- 

 kins Tottle. 



" Oh ! certainly," replied Mr. Gabriel Parsons, I have never 

 thought so since ; and a precious milksop I must have been, ever to 

 have thought so at all. Why, you know, I married Fanny under 

 the oddest, and most ridiculous circumstances possible." 



"What were they, if one may inquire?" asked Timson, who had 

 heard the story, on an average twice a week for the last six months. 

 Mr. Watkins Tottle listened attentively, in the hope of picking up 

 some suggestion that might be useful to him in his new undertaking. 



" I spent my wedding-night in a back-kitchen chimney," said Par- 

 sons, by way of a beginning. 



" In a back-kitchen chimney !" ejaculated Watkins Tottle. " How 

 dreadful !" 



" Yes, it wasn't very pleasant/' replied the small host. " The fact 

 is, that Fanny's father and mother liked me well enough as an indi- 

 vidual, but had a decided objection to my becoming a husband. You 



