"What shall I write, then?" And she took up her pen.
"Sir--I suppose he is 'Sir;' or is he 'My Lord'?"
"Sir,--The young man who bears this note is the only son of the late Colonel Walter Butler, C.B. He has no fortune, no profession, no friends, and very little ability. Can you place him in any position where he may acquire some of the three first and can dispense with the last?
"Oh, Tony! you don't think we could send such a letter as this?" said she, with a half-sad smile.
"I am certain I could deliver it, mother," said he, gravely, "and I 'm sure that it would answer its purpose just as well as a more finished composition."
"Let me at least make a good copy of it," said she, as he folded it up and placed it in an envelope.
"No, no," said he; "just write his name, and all the fine things that he is sure to be, before and after it, and, as I said before, leave the issue to me."
"And when would you think of going, Tony?"
"To-morrow morning, by the steamer that will pass this on the way to Liverpool. I know the Captain, and he will give me a passage; he's always teasing me to take a trip with him."
"To-morrow! but how could you get ready by to-morrow? I 'll have to look over all your clothes, Tony."
"My dear little mother," said he, passing his arm round her, and kissing her affectionately, "how easy it is to hold a review where there 's only a corporal's guard for inspection! All my efficient movables will fit into a very small portmanteau, and I 'll pack it in less than ten minutes."
"I see no necessity for all this haste, particularly where we have so much to consider and talk over. We ought to consult the doctor, too; he's a warm friend, Tony, and bears you a sincere affection."
"He's a good fellow; I like him anywhere but in the pulpit," muttered he, below his breath. "And he 'd like to write to his daughter; she's a governess in some family near Putney, I think. I 'll go and see her; Dolly and I are old playfellows. I don't know," added he, with a laugh, "whether hockey and football are part of a polite female education; but if they be, the pupils that have got Dolly Stewart for their governess are in rare luck."
"Because it's a whim of mine, dear little mother. Because--but don't ask me for reasons, after having spoiled me for twenty years, and given me my own way in everything. I 've got it into my wise head--and you know what a wise head it is--that I 'm going to do something very brilliant. You 'll puzzle me awfully if you ask me where or how; so just be generous and don't push me to the wall."