CHAPTER XVII.
All have opinions, wherefore may not I?
I'll give a judgment—or at least I'll try.
"As idle as ever," said Mr. Lushington, by way of a parting pleasantry. "in my time young men did not spend the morning on the sofa, reading trashy novels; they—" but the merits of our grandfathers were lost in the cough and heavy step with which the elderly gentleman descended the stairs, on his way to some other domicile, where he might vent another portion of his discontent. Certainly the breath of Mr. Lushington's life was an east wind.
It is quite wonderful what privileges are accorded to single gentlemen of a certain age and a certain fortune,—these are the people who may be rude with more than impunity, even reward. Whether the old ladies, either for themselves or their daughters, hope it is not quite too late for these said single gentlemen
