No, no, you won't refuse to hear
me,' he said, observing me on the point of protesting. 'I am, of course,
assuming that you are fancy free. I am assuming, too, that you don't care
twopence about Dudley, and even that you fancy you dislike him. You know in
that pleasant play, poor Sheridan--delightful fellow!--all our fine spirits
are dead--he makes Mrs. Malaprop say there is nothing like beginning with a
little aversion. Now, though in matrimony, of course, that is only a joke,
yet in love, believe me, it is no such thing. His own marriage with Miss
Ogle, I _know_, was a case in point. She expressed a positive horror of him
at their first acquaintance; and yet, I believe, she would, a few months
later, have died rather than not have married him.'
I was again about to speak, but with a smile he beckoned me into silence.
'There are two or three points you must bear in mind. One of the happiest
privileges of your fortune is that you may, without imprudence, marry
simply for love. There are few men in England who could offer you an estate
comparable with that you already possess; or, in fact, appreciably increase
the splendour of your fortune.
Pages:
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566