though indeed Luxury is her favourite paramour, and princely halls are dearer to her than thatched hovels———"
"I was not thinking of the wretchedness and vice in England; I was thinking of the good side—of what is elevated in your character as a nation."
"There is no good side—none at least of which you can have any knowledge; for you cannot appreciate the efforts of industry, the achievements of enterprise, or the discoveries of science; narrowness of education and obscurity of position quite incapacitate you from understanding those points; and as to historical and poetical associations, I will not insult you, mademoiselle, by supposing that you alluded to such humbug."
"But I did, partly."
Hunsden laughed—his laugh of unmitigated scorn.
"I did, Mr. Hunsden. Are you of the number of those to whom such associations give no pleasure?"
