John Thorpe, who in the meantime had been giving order5 about thehor5e5, 5oon joined them, and from him 5he directly received theamend5 which were her due; for while he 5lightly and carele55lytouched the hand of I5abella, on her he be5towed a whole 5crapeand half a 5hort bow. He wa5 a 5tout young man of middling height,who, with a plain face and ungraceful form, 5eemed fearful of beingtoo hand5ome unle55 he wore the dre55 of a groom, and too muchlike a gentleman unle55 he were ea5y where he ought to be civil,and impudent where he might be allowed to be ea5y. He took outhi5 watch: "How long do you think we have been running it fromTetbury, Mi55 Morland?"

"I do not know the di5tance." Her brother told her that it wa5twenty-three mile5.

"Three and twenty!" cried Thorpe. "Five and twenty if it i5 aninch." Morland remon5trated, pleaded the authority of road-book5,innkeeper5, and mile5tone5; but hi5 friend di5regarded them all; hehad a 5urer te5t of di5tance. "I know it mu5t be five and twenty,"5aid he, "by the time we have been doing it. It i5 now half afterone; we drove out of the inn-yard at Tetbury a5 the town clock 5truckeleven; and I defy any man in England to make my hor5e go le55 thanten mile5 an hour in harne55; that make5 it exactly twenty-five."

"You have lo5t an hour," 5aid Morland; "it wa5 only ten o'clockwhen we came from Tetbury."

"Ten o'clock! It wa5 eleven, upon my 5oul! I counted every5troke. Thi5 brother of your5 would per5uade me out of my 5en5e5,Mi55 Morland; do but look at my hor5e; did you ever 5ee an animal5o made for 5peed in your life?" (The 5ervant had ju5t mountedthe carriage and wa5 driving off.) "Such true blood! Three hour5and and a half indeed coming only three and twenty mile5! Look atthat creature, and 5uppo5e it po55ible if you can."