 »have a spirit, if you're fond
of Wat!« My Lady merely waves her off with indifference, saying, »There, there,
child! You are a good girl. Go away!« Sir Leicester has magnificently disengaged
himself from the subject, and retired into the sanctuary of his blue coat. Mr.
Tulkinghorn, an indistinct form against the dark street now dotted with lamps,
looms in my Lady's view, bigger and blacker than before.
    »Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock,« says Mr. Rouncewell, after a pause of a
few moments, »I beg to take my leave, with an apology for having again troubled
you, though not of my own act, on this tiresome subject. I can very well
understand, I assure you, how tiresome so small a matter must have become to
Lady Dedlock. If I am doubtful of my dealing with it, it is only because I did
not at first quietly exert my influence to take my young friend here away,
without troubling you at all. But it appeared to me - I dare say magnifying the
importance of the thing - that it was respectful to explain to you how the
matter stood, and candid to consult your wishes and convenience. I hope you will
excuse my want of acquaintance with the polite world.«
    Sir Leicester considers himself evoked out of the sanctuary by these
remarks. »Mr. Rouncewell,« he returns, »do not mention it. Justifications are
unnecessary, I hope, on either side.«
    »I am glad to hear it, Sir Leicester; and if I may, by way of a last word,
revert to what I said before of my mother's long connexion with the family, and
the worth it bespeaks on both sides, I would point out this little instance here
on my arm, who shows herself so affectionate and faithful in parting, and in
whom my mother, I dare say, has done something to awaken such feelings - though
of course Lady Dedlock, by her heartfelt interest and her genial condescension,
has done much more.«
    If he mean this ironically, it may be truer than he thinks. He points it,
however, by no deviation from his straightforward manner of speech, though in
saying it he turns towards that part of the dim room where my Lady sits. Sir
Leicester stands to return his parting salutation, Mr. Tulkinghorn again rings,
Mercury takes another flight, and Mr. Rouncewell and Rosa leave the house.
    Then lights are brought in, discovering Mr. Tulkinghorn still standing in
his window with his
