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Mr Gibson, though he was not yet
gasping in the basket, had some presentiment of this feeling, which
made his present seat of honour unpleasant to him. Brooke Burgess, at
the other end of the table, was as gay as a lark. Mrs MacHugh sat on
one side of him, and Miss Stanbury on the other, and he laughed at the
two old ladies, reminding them of his former doings in Exeter, how he
had hunted Mrs MacHugh's cat, and had stolen Aunt Stanbury's best
apricot jam, till everybody began to perceive that he was quite a
success. Even Sir Peter Mancrudy laughed at his jokes, and Mrs Powel,
from the other side of Sir Peter, stretched her head forward so that
she might become one of the gay party.
'There isn't a word of it true,' said Miss Stanbury. 'It's all pure
invention, and a great scandal. I never did such a thing in my life.'
'Didn't you though?' said Brooke Burgess. 'I remember it as well as if
it was yesterday, and old Dr. Ball, the prebendary, with the carbuncles
on his nose, saw it too!'
'Dr. Ball had no carbuncles on his nose,' said Mrs MacHugh.


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