'
'Is he,--is he--just anybody?' asked the anxious mother.
'He is a very great deal,--as people go here. Everybody knows him.
He is asked everywhere, but he goes nowhere. The greatest
compliment paid to you here is his presence.'
'Nay, my Lord, there are the Countess Montague, and the
Marchioness of Capulet, and Lord Tybalt, and--'
'They go everywhere. They are nobodies. It is a charity to even
invited them. But to have Dolly Longstaff once is a triumph for
life.'
'Laws!,' said Mrs Boncassen, looking at the young man who was
dancing. 'What has he done?'
'He never did anything in his life.'
'I suppose he's very rich.'
'I don't know. I should think not. I don't know anything about his
riches, but I can assure you that having him down here will quite
give a character to the day.'
In the meantime Dolly Longstaff was in a state of great
excitement. Some part of the character assigned to him by Lord
Silverbridge was true. He very rarely did go anywhere, and yet was
asked to a great many places. He was a young man,--though not a
very young man,--with a fortune of his own and the expectation of
future fortune.
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