"How do _they_ like it ?" "I cannot exactly say," answered Blaize.

"What a dreadful thing it would be if I should be attacked by the plague, and no assistance could be procured!" "It would be still more dreadful if so angelic a creature as Bloundel's daughter is represented to be--for I have never seen her--should be so seized," observed Bottesham.

"I feel so much interested about her that I would do anything to preserve her from the fate with which she is menaced." "Were it not inconsistent with your years, learned sir, I might suspect you of a tenderer feeling towards her," observed Blaize, archly.

"But, in good sooth, her charms are so extraordinary, that I should not be surprised at any effect they might produce." "They would produce no effect on me," replied Bottesham.

"I am long past such feelings.