“Oh, you designing dog!” said the Captain.  “When I used to lick you at school, who ever would have thought that I was thrashing a sucking statesman?”

“Talk away, boys!” said Brough, waking out of his sleep; “I only sleep with half an eye, and hear you all.  Yes, you shall get into Parliament, Tidd my man, or my name’s not Brough!  You shall have six per cent. for your money, or never believe me!  But as for my daughter—­ask her, and not me.  You, or the Captain, or Titmarsh, may have her, if you can get her.  All I ask in a son-in-law is, that he should be, as every one of you is, an honourable and high-minded man!”

Tidd at this looked very knowing; and as our host sank off to sleep again, pointed archly at his eyebrows, and wagged his head at the Captain.

“Bah!” says the Captain.  “I say what I think; and you may tell Miss Brough if you like.”  And so presently this conversation ended, and we were summoned in to coffee.  After which the Captain sang songs with Miss Brough; Tidd looked at her and said nothing; I looked at prints, and Mrs. Brough sat knitting stockings for the poor.  The Captain was sneering openly at Miss Brough and her affected ways and talk; but in spite of his bullying contemptuous way I thought she seemed to have a great regard for him, and to bear his scorn very meekly.

At twelve Captain Fizgig went off to his barracks at Knightsbridge, and Tidd and I to our rooms.  Next day being Sunday, a great bell woke us at eight, and at nine we all assembled in the breakfast-room, where Mr. Brough read prayers, a chapter, and made an exhortation afterwards, to us and all the members of the household; except the French cook, Monsieur Nontong-paw, whom I could see, from my chair, walking about in the shrubberies in his white night-cap, smoking a cigar.

Every morning on week-days, punctually at eight, Mr. Brough went through the same ceremony, and had his family to prayers; but though this man was a hypocrite, as I found afterwards, I’m not going to laugh at the family prayers, or say he was a hypocrite because he had them.  There are many bad and good men who don’t go through the ceremony at all; but I am sure the good men would be the better for it, and am not called upon to settle the question with respect to the bad ones; and therefore I have passed over a great deal of the religious part of Mr. Brough’s behaviour:  suffice it, that religion was always on his lips; that he went to church thrice every Sunday, when he had not a party; and if he did not talk religion with us when we were alone, had a great deal to say upon the subject upon occasions, as I found one day when we had a Quaker and Dissenter party to dine, and when his talk was as grave as that of any minister present.  Tidd was not there that day,—­for nothing could make him forsake his Byron riband or refrain from wearing his collars turned down; so Tidd was sent with the buggy to Astley’s.  “And