"Isaid,
"I&aos;mjustasgratefulasIcanbe,butreallyIdon&aos;twantone。
"
"Butyoucanhavetheverychoicestoneinmygift。
"
"Thanksagain,withallmyheart;butIdon&aos;tevenwantthatone。
"
"Henry,I&aos;mashamedofyou。Youdon&aos;thalfthankthegoodgentleman。MayIdoitforyou?
"
"Indeed,youshall,dear,ifyoucanimroveit。Letusseeyoutry。
"
Shewalkedtomyman,gotuinhisla,utherarmroundhisneck,andkissedhimrightonthemouth。Thenthetwooldgentlemenshoutedwithlaughter,butIwasdumfounded,justetrified,asyoumaysay。Portiasaid:
"Paa,hehassaidyouhaven&aos;tasituationinyourgiftthathe&aos;dtake;andIfeeljustashurtas-
"
"Mydarling,isthatyouraa?
"
"Yes,he&aos;smyste-aa,andthedearestonethateverwas。Youunderstandnow,don&aos;tyou,whyIwasabletolaughwhenyoutoldmeattheminister&aos;s,notknowingmyrelationshis,whattroubleandworryaa&aos;sandUncleAbel&aos;sschemewasgivingyou?
"
Ofcourse,Isokerightunow,withoutanyfooling,andwentstraighttotheoint。
"Oh,mydearestdearsir,IwanttotakebackwhatIsaid。YouhavegotasituationoenthatIwant。
"
"Nameit。
"
"Son-in-law。
"
"Well,well,well!Butyouknow,ifyouhaven&aos;teverservedinthatcaacity,you,ofcourse,can&aos;tfurnishrecommendationsofasorttosatisfytheconditionsofthecontract,andso-
"
"Tryme-oh,do,Ibegofyou!Onlyjusttrymethirtyorfortyyears,andif-
"
"Oh,well,allright;it&aos;sbutalittlethingtoask,takeheralong。
"
Hay,wetwo?Therearenotwordsenoughintheunabridgedtodescribeit。AndwhenLondongotthewholehistory,adayortwolater,ofmymonth&aos;sadventureswiththatbank-note,andhowtheyended,didLondontalk,andhaveagoodtime?Yes。
MyPortia&aos;saatookthatfriendlyandhositablebillbacktotheBankofEnglandandcashedit;thentheBankcanceleditandmadehimaresentofit,andhegaveittousatourwedding,andithasalwayshunginitsframeinthesacredestlaceinourhomeeversince。ForitgavememyPortia。ButforitIcouldnothaveremainedinLondon,wouldnothaveaearedattheminister&aos;s,nevershouldhavemether。AndsoIalwayssay,
"Yes,it&aos;samillion-ounder,asyousee;butitnevermadebutoneurchaseinitslife,andthengotthearticleforonlyaboutatenthartofitsvalue。
"