I Forbid the Banns! — page 110: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

I0O ‘‘T FORBID THE BANNS!” “ You are right, Miss Lancaster. One should not act pre- cipitately in a matter that concerns both of us so nearly. If, however, I find that there were fourteen cabinet min- isters in the House of Commons when ‘ Alice’ first appeared, I will not shrink from what I believe to be my duty. I will go below and make a note of your thoughtful suggestion regarding the septennial parliaments.” He rose and made for the companion; but when about halfway across the deck he stopped and stroked his chin, as if suddenly recollecting something—to be exact, as if he recollected having forgotten something. He glanced back at Bertha for a moment, and then walked on. Before he had disappeared into the companion Charlie Barham was sitting in the seat he vacated. ‘“ Have you ever seen a fly in amber, Miss Lancaster ?”’ he inquired. ‘‘ Never,” said she. “T have. It’s a rummy sort of thing. You are like one.” “ Oh, I say, Charlie, temper your justice with mercy.” “A fly is, we all know, a beautiful, lively creature.” “Tt is lively, at any rate—I admit so much.” “So are you—you are lively, and bright, and beautiful, and—and yet you scroodge yourself in among a lot of fos- sils—amber is a fossil, I suppose—so that one wonders how the—that is, how on earth you got there.” “How on earth? Ah, I was afraid you were going to suggest a supernatural element as accountable for my posi- tion. Well, what is the moral of all this about flies in amber, and fossils, and me?” “You were meant for something better, Miss Lancaster.”’ “Nothing could be better than to point a moral, Charlie.”’ ‘ Now don’t you begin to laugh at a fellow. I'mserious now, and I want you to be serious too. We’ll be in the Bay of Biscay early to-morrow.” \ (CONNIELNOO KS (E(o)