CHAPTER XXIII.
_COMMON-SENSE ARGUMENTS_.
Harry went straightway from the interview to call upon Lillie, and had a conversation with her; in which he conducted himself like a sober, discreet, and rational man.

It was one of those daylight, matter-of-fact kinds of talks, with no nonsense about them, in which things are called by their right names.

He confessed his own sins, and took upon his own shoulders the blame that properly belonged there; and, having thus cleared his conscience, took occasion to give Lillie a deal of grandfatherly advice, of a very sedative tendency.
They had both been very silly, he said; and the next step to being silly very often was to be wicked.

For his part, he thought she ought to be thankful for so good a husband; and, for his own part, he should lose no time in trying to find a good wife, who would help him to be a good man, and do something worth doing in the world.

He had given people occasion to say ill-natured things about her; and he was sorry for it.