Chapter 26: After Some Fencing the Dame Passes Our Guard

⁠​​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​⁠Dame Gossip at this present pass bursts to give us a review of the social world siding for the earl or for his countess; and her parrot cry of ‘John Rose Mackrell!’ with her head’s loose shake over the smack of her lap, to convey the contemporaneous tipsy relish of the rich good things he said on the subject of the contest, indicates the kind of intervention it would be.

To save the story from havi