She began to make peace from that moment, feeling that the limit had been reached.  Indeed she was rather anxious.  The thrust appeared to be mortal.  Mr. Gurd rolled in his chair, and after his oath, could find no further words.

She declared sorrow.

“There—­forgive me—­I didn’t mean to say that.  ’Tis a crying shame to see two old people dressing one another down this way.  I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but don’t forget you’ve properly trampled on mine.  My pleasure grounds are my lifeblood you might say; and you knew it.”

“You needn’t apologise now.  ‘The Tiger’ a bar-loafers’ place!  The centre of all high-class sport in the district a bar-loafers’ place!  Well, well!  No wonder you thought I’d be glad to come and live at ’The Seven Stars’!”

“I didn’t really,” she confessed.  “I knew very well you wouldn’t; but I had to say it.  The words just flashed out.  And if I’d remembered a joke was nothing to you, I might have thought twice.”

“I laughed, however.”

“Yes, you laughed, I grant—­what you can do in that direction, which ain’t much.”

Mr. Gurd rose to his full height.

“Well, that lets me out,” he said.  “We’d better turn this over in a forgiving spirit; and since you say you’re sorry, I won’t be behind you, though my words was whips to your scorpions and you can’t deny it.”

“We’ll meet again in a week,” said Mrs. Northover.

“Make it a fortnight,” he suggested.

“No—­say a month,” she answered—­“or six weeks.”

Then it was Richard’s turn to feel the future in danger.  But he had no intention to eat humble pie that evening.

“A month then.  But one point I wish to make bitter clear, Nelly.  If you marry me, you come to ‘The Tiger.’”

“So it seems.”

“Yes—­bar-loafers, or no bar-loafers.”

“I’ll bear it in mind, Richard.”

The leave-taking lacked affection and they parted with full hearts.  Each was smarting under consciousness of the other’s failure in nice feeling; each was amazed as at a revelation.  Richard kept his mouth shut concerning this interview, for he was proud and did not like to confess even to himself that he stood on the verge of disaster; but Mrs. Northover held a familiar within her gates, and she did not hesitate to lay the course of the adventure before Job Legg.

“The world is full of surprises,” said Nelly, “and you never know, when you begin talking, where the gift of speech will land you.  And if you’re dealing with a man who can’t take a bit of fun and can’t keep his eyes on his tongue and his temper at the same time, trouble will often happen.”

She told the story with honesty and did not exaggerate; but Mr. Legg supported her and held that such a self-respecting woman could have done and said no less.  He declared that Richard Gurd had brought the misfortune on himself, and feared that the innkeeper’s display revealed a poor understanding of female nature.