The Riding Whip

They had a general acquaintance with each other’s domestic affairs. Both were widowers; both lived alone. Mr. Daffy’s son was married, and dwelt in London; the same formula applied to Mr. Lott’s daughter. And, as it happened, the marriages had both been a subject of parental dissatisfaction. Very rarely had Mr. Lott let fall a word with regard to his daughter, Mrs. Bowles, but the townsfolk were well aware that he thought his son-in-law a fool, if not worse; Mrs. Bowles, in the seven years since her wedding, had only two or three times revisited her father’s house, and her husband never came. A like reticence was maintained by Mr. Daffy concerning his son Charles Edward, once the hope of his life.